


You Must Become the Ghom

by Troll_Theorist



Series: An Alternate Universe Infinity Train [1]
Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27740356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Troll_Theorist/pseuds/Troll_Theorist
Summary: One-One from another universe has seen the atrocities that could happen on his train. The eccentric conductor decides to take a different approach to dealing with the Simon from his timeline, but will it help or do more harm than good? *Infinity Train belongs to Owen Dennis*
Series: An Alternate Universe Infinity Train [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029237
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. The Nightmare Car

  
  
One-One watched on a monitor how Simon kicked Grace off the bridge. The robot gasped, thinking that Grace got crushed by the wheel. But then it was revealed that Grace had been saved by tiny origami birds.

"Phew, that almost could have ended in yet another tragedy," One-One said in Glad-One's voice.

Then the ghom – the terror from the wasteland – came for Simon. It leaped onto him and completely absorbed all of his life, leaving only a pile of dust underneath before exploding into a blue smoke cloud.

One-One raised his right stub of an arm up. "Oh, my! The One-One of that universe should have taken different measures to prevent that passenger from getting his number that high." His voice changed to Sad-One's as he said, "So many atrocities were committed up until that point for allowing this to go on for so long …" He checked the list of passengers on the screen and found Simon's number and avatar. After tapping on the avatar, he saw Simon, who was preparing to use the tape reader in the Hey Ho Whoa car. One-One's voice switched to Glad-One's. "The Simon in this universe isn't far from his breaking point either. What do I do? I must prevent the disaster his ascension to power would cause! Let's see his profile. Mhm, passenger refuses to accept reality when presented with facts. Well then, we'll just have to make him face reality. I know just the right agent for this!"

* * *

Simon was in tears. He had just witnessed on tape how his best friend not only broke the Apex creed, but hid a null from him. How could she hug that thing? He had known her for eight years. Eight fricking years! She had only hugged him maybe three times since they've met – mostly because she needed to feel better about herself. Then this null comes and gets comforted with a hug just for crying! Speaking of crying, he realized he had a stream of tears on his face. Wiping them off, he shot a nasty look at Grace.

She was still sleeping, unaware that her secret had just been discovered. It was pure luck that she didn't wake up during the process of the tape extraction.

Simon picked the small robots out of her hair and put them back into the vial, closed it, then put it back into his pants' rear pocket. He was about to retrieve the tape and the reader, but a strange sound made him look behind himself. "Huh?"

A purple portal opened to allow a deer to enter. Said deer had a pair of arms on its back, holding onto a strange gun. Simon remembered he had seen the creature before. It bowed as it shot him with a beam of blue light. That was the last thing he knew before he was knocked out.

* * *

Grace woke up to a hellish screech as before her stood a dark, hunched entity with a long tentacle and two smaller ones coming from its head. It had four dog legs, a short tail, and two pairs of wings that drooped to the ground. She screamed at it and pressed her back against the wall.

Hazel came out of her shell and prepared her claws, although she stood in place and kept her eyes on the dark creature.

Amelia woke up and said, "It's a ghom! Everyone, stand back! I'll kill it with a sonic blast!" She hovered her index finger over the center of her belt, and she would have pressed it if it weren't for Hazel's shout.

"Wait! That is Simon!"

Grace and Amelia looked at Hazel. The ghom just sat in place, quivering and whimpering.

Grace asked, "What happened? Why is he a ghom? Did this box thing do that to him?" She pointed at the tape reader that still had the tape in it.

"No," Hazel said. "He used that to look into your memories. Our secret is out."

Simon hissed while arching his back and spreading his wings.

Grace put her hands on her hips and looked down at him. "You did not have my permission to do that, Simon!"

The ghom made an even louder hiss and started beating his wings, stirring up a dust cloud around him.

"No wonder he became a giant cockroach," Amelia said.

Simon stood still, letting his wings droop again.

"A deer did it," Hazel said. "It had a big gun held by the arms on its back."

Grace pondered. "A deer? I think it was Alan Dracula. We've met that denizen before."

Simon looked at Grace and hissed loudly.

"Be quiet! I'm trying to figure this out!" she said, putting the tape and its reader in her green fanny pack.

He hissed louder and started up his wings again.

"What's there to figure out?" Amelia asked. "We just put him down and move along. It was clear there wasn't much hope for him while he was a human; now there's even less of it while he is a ghom."

Simon whined and flattened himself over the ground again.

"I can't just give up on him," Grace said. "He's my friend."

Simon turned his back to her while hissing.

Hazel giggled. "I think he's mad at you for not telling him about me."

"Of course I didn't tell him about you! He would have killed you!"

"You could have explained while Amelia was around," Hazel said. "You had your chance to explain this to everyone when I turned into a turtle in plain sight, but you didn't. That's why I am now considering it would be safer for me to go with Amelia."

Grace frowned. "But Hazel, you can be safe in the Apex too. I am the leader, and if I tell them not to hurt you, they won't."

"If Simon killed Tuba without your approval, what makes you think he or other Apex members wouldn't try this with me too?"

Simon let out a hissed laugh. This got him a glare from Grace, but he didn't even see it since he still refused to look at her.

"Amelia, is there no way of turning Simon back into a human?" Grace asked.

Amelia looked at the beast that lay on the ground. "If there's anyone who could help with such an issue, it is One. But he won't let strangers into the locomotive, especially with that cockroach thing."

"But does One let _you_ inside?"

"Yes, where is this going?"

"Can you take us to the locomotive, please?"

Amelia sighed. "Look, One won't send a car after me until I am done doing my job. To get to the locomotive, we'd all have to walk there. Why would I waste my time for this stupid child who doesn't know fact from fiction?"

Simon turned to hiss at her.

She gave an evil smile. "Look at him, he's one step away from foaming at the mouth."

"Please, Amelia," Grace said. "I promise that he and I will help you in return."

Simon stomped the ground and hissed at Grace.

She smiled nonchalantly at him. "Do you want to be an oversized cockroach for the rest of your life, Simon?"

He calmed down and whimpered.

Amelia said, "Fine, but you'll be working your arses off for this!"

Rumbling noises came from outside. The pit of the car was almost filled with living rocks, so everyone walked with ease to the other side.

"The cars are switching," Amelia said as she saw the car before her get lifted and moved toward the back of the train. "We still have an hour until the scan arrives."

A new car replaced the old one and bridged itself to their current one.

"We have to be careful. There's no telling what might be in there. The other one had an origami bird village. It might have been easier to pass through."

Grace nodded at Amelia. Then she looked at the ghom. "Simon, let's go."

He made a lot of hissing complaints that she could not understand one bit, but at least he was walking across the bridge. His attention was captured when he saw three ghoms which ran together in parallel with the train.

Amelia pointed at the ghoms with her thumb. "Wouldn't it be better to just leave him with those of his kind?"

Simon spread his wings and yelped while shaking in place.

"No," Grace said. "He's terrified of them. Besides, he's not a ghom, he's a human!"

Amelia looked with the corners of her eyes at Simon. "Looks like a ghom to me."

This made Simon go into a hissing fit, spazzing around in place.

Grace looked at him, then at Amelia. "Let's just keep going."

* * *

The door Amelia opened led to a car that was mostly dark save for a neon blue pathway at its center. It seemed to go on for a distance longer than the car itself, but since there were no obstacles in sight, it seemed like an easy trek.

"This place is beautiful!" Hazel said.

Grace looked around. "Yes, but isn't it strange that there's nothing else other than this glowing path?"

Amelia said, "Whatever this car is about, I'm sure it'll reveal it soon enough."

Indeed, the car's dark areas gained some details that had a faint blue glow. To his right, Simon could spot what looked like a train car wheel exactly like the one under which he had wheeled Tuba. Hazel saw a human figure coming toward her from the right side. Grace saw a group of kids approach from the left. Amelia saw a human come from the same side, just a bit further up ahead.

"What's going to happen to us?" Hazel asked.

Simon's wings were fully spread out. The wheel kept heading his way while most of its car was covered in darkness. He tried to fly away, but ended up falling onto his back. Once he was on his feet again, he saw a large arm lift the train wheel. A familiar face showed its teeth at him and roared. It was Tuba! But not the Tuba he knew and hated. It was what he could describe as a blue, zombified Tuba. He let out an ear-piercing screech while backing away.

Hazel on the other hand had to deal with her own nightmare. It was a blue version of human Simon, who approached her with a smirk on his face. She heard him say, "Time to get wheeled, null!" It didn't help that the wheel the zombie Tuba had thrown to the side was rotating in place in front of her.

Grace had to face blue versions of the Apex kids. They were all chanting, "Shame! Shame! Shame! Your number is so low!" They were pointing brooms and hockey sticks at her.

Amelia was in front of a blue copy of Alrick. He pointed at her and said, "You tried to replace me! I thought you loved me!"

Zombie Tuba tried to crush Simon with her fists, and kept picking up blue rocks that glowed brighter as she held them. She threw those at him with the intention to kill.

Simon found himself being thankful for the dog legs he had been cursed with. They allowed him to dodge and jump pretty well. He couldn't really get the hang of the wings yet, and his jumping couldn't keep him safe for too long. Zombie Tuba jumped higher than him and tried to squash him under her feet. She almost managed to land on him, but he got out of the way just in time.

Hazel wanted to run, but behind her were the Apex kids, and in front of her was blue Simon with his hands ready to grab her. She brought out her claws and said, "Don't you dare touch me!"

Blue Simon laughed. "Pathetic. I'll just grab you by your scrawny arms and throw you under."

Grace pointed at Amelia while looking at the kids. "She was the conductor I met when I was a little girl. She isn't the true conductor. One-One is. She never said we should get the highest number. I made that up. What she did say was that we must lower our numbers to zero and get off the train. So, my number being lower than before means I did something right." She took off her gloves and put them into her fanny pack while showing her number. It was only three rows away from her wrist.

The blue Apex kids stared at her and at Amelia. From among them, Lucy came forward and said, "Show us proof that she is the conductor you've met back then."

Grace said, "Amelia! Use your voice changer!"

Amelia snapped out of her shock and brought out her voice changer. She looked at Alrick and used the robot voice. "I still keep this with me. I have accepted that I can never have Alrick back. You're not him. Nobody can replace him."

The fake Apex kids were amazed while the fake Alrick smiled. They all faded away into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Simon continued to dodge zombie Tuba's attacks, but he was getting tired while his opponent seemed to have not lost any vigor. He thought for a moment, then wondered if he could actually give teamwork a try again. It was worth a shot.

Hazel struggled to get out of blue Simon's grasp, but he held her by the arms and dragged her toward the wheel. He said, "Your claws can't do anything to me, null!"

The real Simon jumped at blue Simon's arms, causing him to let go of Hazel. Blue Simon screamed after realizing a ghom stood next to his feet. He backed away quivering. Simon hissed at him, and that was all it took to send his copy running back into the darkness.

"Thank you," Hazel said to Simon. She saw zombie Tuba heading their way. "Tuba!"

Zombie Tuba roared while keeping her right hand up, holding a glowing rock.

Simon was too tired to keep dodging, so he just dropped to the floor and put his life in Hazel's hands. Whatever she'd choose to do, he didn't care anymore.

Hazel stood up to zombie Tuba. "Wait! I know he did this to you, Tuba. I hate him too."

Simon whimpered, flattening himself.

Hazel continued, "I don't know if there's anything left to save inside him, but I know one thing. If he dies, Grace will be sad. He is her Tuba. I don't want her to lose him like I lost you."

Zombie Tuba glared at Simon, but chose to put the rock back on the floor. She hugged Hazel for a short moment before letting her go, then faded into the darkness along with the train's wheel.

Simon fluttered his wings in zombie Tuba's direction before turning to face Hazel. He made a few squeaking noises toward her.

"You're welcome," Hazel said.

He emitted a few muffled hisses while looking away. It was a question, not a "Thank you"! If only he could speak again, he'd teach that null not to make assumptions!

Grace waved at them. "Simon! Hazel! Let's go! The exit is right up ahead!"

They reached the door, and Amelia opened it, allowing the sunlight to flood the room.


	2. The Cats City Car

The gang was about to get on the bridge. There was enough time to safely pass it and enter the other car, so they afforded to look around and make sure no wild ghoms could surprise them.

Simon's body faced difficulty carrying its own weight. He remembered he hadn't eaten anything during the entire day. What he wouldn't give for … What was this craving anyway? It didn't match any want for a food he knew. It compelled him to sniff the air with his three tendril-shaped extensions.

Amelia went first on the bridge. Next were Grace and Hazel. Simon was the last to walk onto it. His longest tendril seemed to hone in on Hazel's left arm.

"Stop that! It tickles!" Hazel said after noticing it was him.

He drew back the tendril, but his hunger only grew stronger. Grace seemed to emit the same aura as Hazel. His tendril went for her right leg.

Grace felt the tickle and looked down to see Simon's head get closer to her leg. "What are you doing?"

Amelia turned around to see what the ruckus was about. Her eyes were wide when she saw what was going on.

Simon couldn't resist and took in a huge breath through the hole at the center of his hundreds of smaller tentacles. A bright blue light came out of Grace's leg and went into what he considered his mouth. It felt like drinking cold water after going thirsty through a desert.

Grace screamed at him, and Amelia reacted by making her booted foot come into contact with Simon's head.

Simon used his claws to provide friction and stop himself from falling off the bridge. He ended up exactly at the edge – a pretty close call.

Grace wasn't looking like her friendly self anymore. "Simon! What were you trying to do?"

"He was trying to feed off your energy, that's what he was trying to do!" Amelia said. "I am telling you, he is too far gone. He's already behaving like those mindless beasts. Putting him down would be the merciful thing to do."

"He's hungry," Grace said. "He hasn't eaten anything today."

"So you're offering to feed him with your life? Sure, go ahead. One less person for me to worry about."

"No, that's not what I am trying to say. Amelia, do you have any eggs left?"

Amelia looked into her bag. "Yes, but why should I feed that beast of yours?"

"Please, Amelia!" Grace said. "I promise I'll pay you back once we get this whole ghom issue solved. I don't want him to hurt anyone, but I also don't want him to starve to death."

Simon sat on the bridge, silently watching the two women.

Amelia muttered something as she gave Grace five raw eggs still in their shells. Grace put the eggs next to the ghom.

Simon sniffed them with his tendrils. They had the aura he was hungry for. He opened his mouth, and took in a deep breath, causing blue light to come out of the eggs and enter him. After he finished eating, the remaining egg shells crumbled, leaving behind a fine dust near his paws.

"Better?" Grace asked, smiling at him.

He got up and fluttered his wings once before letting them rest on his back.

"I guess that's a yes," she said. "Now let's continue our journey."

Refreshed, Simon followed the rest of the group to the door of the next car.

* * *

They ended up in a car whose inside was even bigger than the previous one. This time it had a paved path that led to a city in full nighttime display with neon signs, skyscrapers with large windows, and streets decorated on the sides with grass as well as green, fuzzy lampposts that seemed specifically meant to be climbed onto by small creatures, due to the multiple platforms and fluffy boxes with holes on them.

Simon nervously looked around while chittering. Grace wondered what startled him so much, but the answer came the moment she saw what the denizens of the car looked like.

Every pedestrian on the street was a cat wearing clothing that covered the top side of their body. Most of them walked on all fours, but a few chose the bipedal walk. Each cat's fur was colored either fully black, white, orange, gray, or was a mix of two or three of these colors. Even their fluffiness had varying levels. The rarest among them were the cats that had absolutely no fur covering their wrinkly skin.

Hazel, now looking fully human again, grinned. "They must be family of The Cat!"

Simon put his paws over his head and hissed while touching the pavement with his mouth.

Grace said, "They're not the same cat, Simon!"

"Yeah," Hazel said, frowning. "Just like the Tuba in the other car wasn't really Tuba."

Simon was glad that was the case. If that had really been Tuba, she would have pushed Hazel aside and squashed him like a bug.

Further down the path, to their right, a homeless gray cat that was mostly skin and bones dressed in rags held a black hat in his paws. He looked up at the non-cat travelers and said, "Please find it in your hearts to donate something. I am so hungry ..."

Amelia searched through her bag and brought out six eggs. She plopped them into the cat's hat. Grace found a half-eaten snack bar in her fanny pack, so she donated that. Hazel looked into her satchel and found the purple pineapple that Tuba had stored for her. She gave it to the poor cat and smiled.

"May the Conductor bless you all!" the homeless cat said, his green eyes sparkling with joy.

Simon shook his head and emitted a muffled growl. Those bleeding hearts are going to feel the consequences of giving that food away eventually. Blessings do not fill stomachs.

* * *

Everywhere the gang went, the cat pedestrians either talked behind the travelers' backs or outright puffed up and hissed at Simon – sometimes even receiving hissing back from him.

"We better watch out," Amelia said. "Who knows what rules these denizens have in this car. What we're doing here might be the equivalent of walking an alligator in public."

Hazel giggled. "Like they do in Florida?"

Amelia raised an eyebrow at that question while staring at her for a moment, but then focused on the road ahead.

Grace saw a restaurant to her left. There was a large, red neon sign that displayed the restaurant's name: Felis. Her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything for half a day. "Amelia, can we stop and have breakfast here? I want to check out the menu of this place."

"We can, but if you take too long, this car is going to be sent flying straight to the back of the train."

"Don't worry, I'll just ask for a sandwich or something light and I'll eat it fast."

* * *

While the rest of her gang squatted around a very short, rectangular, white table made for cats, Grace went to speak with the tuxedo-wearing tuxedo cat at the counter.

"Welcome to Felis!" the tuxedo tomcat said. "How may I help you?"

Grace said, "I would like a menu, please."

The cat gave her a menu booklet, then looked at her arm's number. "You seem to be a passenger. Let me explain how things work around here. We don't have a fixed currency; we barter. Want something from that menu? Offer me something I want in return."

Grace searched through her fanny pack. At first she wanted to offer two toothbrushes, but then she noticed the tiny box she had stored in there earlier. She took it out and looked at it and the tape that dangled from its sides.

Amelia got up from the table and went to whisper to Grace. "You aren't thinking of giving a tape player to one of these cat denizens, are you?"

"I think it could buy us all breakfast. Besides, I don't want Simon to get his hands on it again. I bet he got it from The Cat."

"These players are dangerous. You can end up trapped inside your own mind if you watch your own tape without being open to accepting reality. Imagine the nefarious deeds these cats could do with a tape player, seeing as passengers' tapes have been stolen before. The Cat obtained my tape, and it has been used against me. I was lucky I had an alarm installed to call for the Steward to destroy the player."

"All right," Grace said. She blew air through her lips as she put the player back inside her fanny pack and rummaged again. Bringing out two toothbrushes, she showed them to the tuxedo cat. "I'll give you these for a tuna sandwich."

The cat rubbed his chin. "Hmm, I'd give you the sandwich, but it has two slices of bread and a piece of tuna. I think you are one toothbrush short."

She scowled, dug into her fanny pack again, then brought out the third toothbrush and put all three pieces on the counter. "There. Is that enough?"

"Definitely," the cat said with a smile. He took the three toothbrushes and peeked through a door. "Mara! We got an order for a tuna sandwich!"

"Comin' right up!" a female voice yelled back.

"I would also like two of those sandwiches, if you accept six eggs in exchange," Amelia said, putting the eggs on the counter.

The tuxedo cat looked at the eggs, then peeked through the door again. "Mara, better make that _three_ tuna sandwiches!"

"Sure thing!" Mara said.

* * *

While waiting for the tuna sandwiches, Grace sat at table number four with the rest of her gang. She put the loaded tape player on the table and looked at Simon. "You got this from The Cat, didn't you?"

Simon turned his head to the side and avoided looking her in the eyes.

"Of course. Why else would you visit my enemy?" Grace said. "Let's see what else you've found through my memory."

"Wait!" Amelia said. "You might never know what traumas this tape could bring to the surface. Even if we stop the player, you could come out worse than before looking into your tape."

Grace hesitated for a moment, but then looked at Simon and furrowed her brows. "I think I am more prepared to face reality than a certain oversized cockroach."

Simon turned his head to face her and growled.

While Grace started the tape player, an orange waitress cat arrived and placed three plates off a tray onto the table. "Your sandwiches are ready. Enjoy!" She saw the tape move through the player and was captivated by the projection for a few seconds.

"Nugget!" the tuxedo tomcat called. "Mara says another order is ready for table three!"

"Coming!" the waitress said.

As the tape played, Grace saw before her eyes what she was like as a little girl: straight hair tied up in a bun with a blue ribbon, and herself dressed in a blue ballet costume complete with tutu.

Her parents weren't there to see her perform. The four girls who were her classmates enjoyed ice cream together at a table and laughed at her for being unable to relate to them. Young Grace approached their table and decided to ruin the camaraderie between the girls by telling one of them, "You know, Shayna, you were right. Chloe shouldn't smile until her parents can afford to get her braces."

This sparked an argument between Shayna and Chloe while the other two girls couldn't even enjoy their ice cream anymore.

"They were rude, but you were also rude, Grace." It was Hazel's voice.

Grace looked around but couldn't see Hazel. All she could see was the interior of the ice cream shop, where the young version of her walked away from the bickering girls. Out of the blue, her surroundings turned into static. Then the view changed to a place inside her house. The young version of herself was trying on makeup, a purple dress, a white pearl necklace, and a straw hat with flowers while staring into a mirror and sitting atop a stool.

"You look pretty," Hazel's disembodied voice said.

Then Grace's mother came to scold young Grace for how she looked. There were multiple people her mother would ask to "take her to a movie or something" while she and Grace's father would go to important meetings.

The constant lack of attention from her parents led young Grace to the point that brought the train to her. She shoplifted a bracelet and convinced her friends to do the same according to the policewoman who spoke to her parents. The parents refused to admit that Grace could do such a thing, even when their daughter wanted to apologize.

"You stole that and dragged more kids into the mess," Amelia said.

Simon hissed from somewhere in the room too.

Grace tried to put her hand on little Grace's right shoulder, but static stuck to her fingers, making her pull away. "I … I just wanted to be noticed."

The train appeared inside the police station, white with gold details and a red carpet that led her to the entrance. She went to check what was inside, and was sucked in.

Next the tape swapped the surroundings to be the pumpkin car, where young Grace had the encounter that inspired her to create the Apex. She saw the Steward as a ghostly, masked, snakelike being that emitted a blue flame from its body. The Steward flew at young Grace, but was stopped when called by a big, black figure that blocked out the sun and had a red sine wave for a mouth. The head opened up and, in a robotic voice, requested a sphere that the Steward brought to it. A human arm with lots of numbers on it came out of the black suit to grab the sphere.

"Is that what you thought of me?" Amelia asked. She appeared next to the adult Grace.

"That's how it seemed back then," Grace said.

Ghom Simon appeared too, whistling in amazement at the gigantic Conductor.

"That thing's scary!" Hazel said, appearing from behind a pumpkin about as tall as herself.

Grace squinted at the dark entity. "Now that I look back at it, this wasn't what it was like."

"Of course it wasn't," Amelia said, crossing her arms.

The giant black figure became a robot, slightly taller than a human, with a cloak on its back. Even its helmet was actually white, with only a black display that had a red sine wave.

Simon broke into chittering while stomping in place.

"I didn't even save you," Amelia said. "I was just asking the Steward to bring me an orb from the pumpkin car. You've been praising someone who didn't even care about your existence."

Simon hissed something that sounded like "Lies!" Then he approached Amelia's left leg and sucked in energy from it. He promptly received a kick in the snout from her and backed off.

The next memory was about how Grace met Simon. She saw young Simon and The Cat – also known as Samantha – run away from a ghom. When young Simon could not go with Samantha through a small hole between some colorful cardboard boxes, young Grace stepped in and pushed the ghom aside, causing it to tip over. She took young Simon outside of the car and assured him everything's going to be fine. When asked by him about why her number was so high, she told him that she was really good at the train.

Young Grace's version of being really good at the train meant she was in fact really annoying to its denizens. She even encouraged young Simon to use the denizens as if they were mere toys there for passengers' amusement.

When Hazel saw how young Grace and Simon used pink puffer fish denizens to get lifted into the air, she said, "Why did you force them to carry you? They look unhappy."

Present day Grace looked at Hazel, who was on a grassy plain next to her. "We were just kids. We didn't really know better."

The scenery changed again, and Grace and the gang were atop a train car. There, teenage versions of Grace and Simon stared at the train car's wheels. A ghom happened to be flying by and ended up hitting the wheel, getting crushed and leaving behind a blue smoke that scattered.

"Whoa, did you see that?" teenage Simon asked.

Teenage Grace smirked. "Hey, what do you think would happen if a denizen ended up under the wheel?"

"I don't know," he said.

"Only one way to find out!" she said. "Let's go get one of our captives!"

The tape skipped to a few moments later, when teenage Simon held a corgi puppy denizen in his arms while he and teenage Grace stared at the wheel below. The scared puppy kept calling for his mommy.

"Oh no!" Hazel said. "What's going to happen to that puppy?"

"I … I'm sorry for what you're all about to see," present Grace said as tears started to form in her eyes.

Teenage Simon seemed unsure about going through with what he and his companion had planned. "For a toy, this puppy sure sounds like he's just a scared kid. A-are you sure he won't feel it?"

The puppy yelled for his mommy over and over, squirming but having no luck of getting out of his captor's arms.

"Come on, Simon!" teenage Grace said. "It's just a toy, no matter how convincing it may act. You're not a child anymore. It's time to detach yourself from the cute and cuddly stuff and use it for a more interesting purpose. Like finding out what happens when it hits the wheel!"

Teenage Simon looked into the frightened puppy's teary eyes. "But … he's scared."

Teenage grace gave him a disappointed stare. "You talk about it like it's a person. It's not. It doesn't even have a number. It's literally nothing. A null. It can fool you into thinking it's aware, but you've seen what they are. They're just pieces of code made to entertain us."

Hazel looked at present Grace. " _You_ were behind this."

"I was just a stupid teen, I … I wanted to experiment with things," present Grace said.

Teenage Simon dangled the puppy over the edge of the car, but still hesitated.

"Do it," teenage Grace said coldly. "Remember how The Cat abandoned you. Remember how you felt that day. All these nulls cannot be trusted. Don't let it grow into another deceiver."

Teenage Simon took a deep breath and channeled all the hatred he had for Samantha into the way he threw the puppy at the wheel.

Hazel and Amelia gasped. Present day Simon remained as apathetic as a ghom could be. Present day Grace hid her face behind her palms as she cried.

Teenage Grace and Simon winced after seeing what became of the puppy.

"That was … pretty brutal," teenage Simon said.

"For once, I can say you had guts," teenage Grace said, slapping him on the back.

Hazel, now in full turtle mode, pointed a claw at present Grace. "Because of you, Tuba is dead!"

"But Simon was the one who wheeled her!" Grace said.

"Simon wouldn't be this messed up if you hadn't pushed the idea of wheeling denizens on him. I can imagine what the rest of the Apex kids had to go through to earn your trust."

The tape decided to show how teenage Simon had become the one who recruited kids into the Apex by retelling the distorted story he had heard from Grace about the Conductor. Then it showed what the rite of passage was for the kids.

Present Grace was on her knees, sobbing. Everyone got to see how teenage Grace ordered newly-recruited kids to wheel various types of denizens – a seal, a tied-up butterfly, a tiny monkey, and a calico kitten. Teenage Simon was parroting to the kids what he had learned from her and encouraging them to distance themselves emotionally from the "train toys", the "nulls", the "nothings".

"I thought Simon was a monster," Hazel said. "But you, you are worse, Grace! You made others do the dirty work for you while telling them to avoid trusting denizens! You're a coward leading cowards!"

"I'm sorry!" present Grace said. "I was wrong! I was wrong about denizens, about numbers, about the Conductor, and who knows what else! I just wanted to have people look up to me. I wanted to be given the attention I craved."

Ghom Simon grew as big as the false image of the Conductor and stared down at Grace while the entire room was engulfed by a blinding white light. He screeched at her and spread his wings.

"I know," Grace said. "I've manipulated people. Even recently I tried to play you and Hazel at the same time, hoping I could keep you two under my control. Now look where I ended up. Everyone thinks less of me for it. And to be honest, I'm scared that I will end up alone, which was exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place."

Simon hissed, lifted his right paw, and brought it down toward Grace.

"No! Simon, I'm sorry! Please don't–" She was back in the restaurant.

In front of her, Simon had his paw on top of the tape player while his wings remained raised and stiff. Next to him there was a pink-nosed cat with white and orange stripes, dressed in a black leather jacket and looking pretty hostile.

Grace shook her head to fully snap back into reality. Then she focused on the cat while packing up the tape and the player. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, I would consider you being responsible for the death of my daughter a _huge_ problem," the orange tabby tomcat said. "Me and the boys were hanging out, having a nice dinner together, when lo and behold, I finally find out why my poor little Dasha never came home from school. And even better, her kidnappers show up so we got them right where we want them."

Four tomcats – one black, one white, one gray, and one hairless – all dressed up in black leather jackets, came to back up their orange tabby friend.

The black tomcat showed his metallic claw extensions and said, "Oi! So it was you freaky cult people behind this and the disappearances of so many denizens!"

The hairless tomcat showed his four golden canine teeth while hissing at Grace. "If I bite you with these, you'll be agonizing for an hour until the poison finally kills you!"

The white one brought out a nunchaku from his jacket's right pocket and swung it around. "Hayaaa! Huuuuaaaah!"

The gray one took a small, rubbery, transparent tennis ball out of his jacket's pocket. The ball was full of small, red things that kept moving inside it. He said, "Should I introduce them to my fire ants, Stanley?"

The orange tabby looked at his crew. "Go ahead. I want to make sure these hooligans get acquainted with all kinds of pain before they get to kiss the wheel."

Meanwhile, Simon was slowly trying to shuffle sideways off the table.

"Where do you think you're going?" Stanley asked while pointing at the ghom with his claw.

Simon zipped away to the restaurant's exit. Grace, Hazel, and Amelia grabbed their sandwiches and joined him, with the angry cat gang hot on their trail.


	3. The Infinite Aisles Car

While Hazel and Grace ran alongside Amelia and were protected by her sound shield, Simon went on a different street. He was chased by the gray cat, who kept trying to get as close as possible in order to throw the ant ball at him.

"C'mere, mutt!" the gray cat said.

Simon saw a truck up ahead. If he could fly over it, he'd gain some distance. Fluttering his wings, he jumped and realized he still couldn't control his flight. He broke through the windshield and ended up on the driver's seat.

The cat stopped in front of the truck and brought out the ball while grinning at the terrified ghom.

As dangerous as the idea was, Simon took his chances and broke through the truck's left window. His skin was tough enough to withstand the scratches of the glass, but it still hurt. At least he was free to run again.

The gray cat put the ball back in his jacket's pocket and continued to chase Simon.

Still following Amelia, Grace said, "We need to find Simon and get out of here."

"We need to get out of here with or without that pesky ghom," Amelia said. "The pulse will reach this place in five minutes."

Not wanting to leave her friend behind, Grace split up from the gang and went to look for him.

Amelia stopped running and watched her go on another street. "You're crazy."

Hazel stopped too, and stood as close as she could to Amelia. When Stanley and his cat gang arrived, they were sent flying by the sound shield.

"Let's get to the exit before they get up again," Amelia told Hazel. "My shield might run out of charge if I have to keep using it like this." They ran together.

* * *

Simon was cornered in a dead end alley. The gray cat approached him while bouncing the ant ball on his right hand. The ghom tried to fly again, but only ended up tumbling and crashing between wheelie bins.

"He shoots," the gray cat said as he threw the ball, then added "He scores!" when it landed on Simon and burst open.

Simon yelped and rubbed himself onto every bin he could touch before rolling on the ground over and over. The ant bites were like flames burning his skin, except there was no actual burning going on.

The gray cat laughed while enjoying the sight. Because he wasn't paying attention to what was behind him, he was grabbed by Grace. He clawed at her arms, but she opened a bin and threw the cat inside. To buy her and Simon some time, she put two full trash bags on top of the bin's lid.

Simon remembered that the ants were alive, so he vacuumed his skin with his mouth, draining all of the ants of life.

"Let me out of here!" the gray cat shouted from inside the bin.

Grace wanted to run and leave the cat trapped in there, but something held her back. She looked at the trash bags. "If nobody comes here to release him, he might run out of air."

Simon shook his head to the sides at her, then pointed with his snout toward the exit of the alleyway.

"No, Simon," Grace said. "I'll have to release him. We run when I say."

The ghom hissed while covering his head with both paws.

Grace grabbed the trash bags. "Three, two, one, go!" She threw them off and left with Simon as the gray cat burst out of the bin all puffed up and hissing.

* * *

Amelia and Hazel were in the middle of the bridge between the Cat City car and the next car. The sound shield kept the angry cat gang at bay, but for how long, it was uncertain.

Amelia said, "If Grace and that beast of hers don't show up before the scan hits the bridge, they're on their own."

Hazel seemed concerned, but same time couldn't help but think it was for the best to distance herself from Grace, and especially from Simon.

Stanley and his crew kept trying to claw the shield, only to be repelled all the way back to the bridge's end.

Grace and Simon finally found the exit. Once they were outside, the cats turned around to face them.

"We're too late," Grace said.

The gray cat pounced on Simon, but found himself pinned to the ground by the ghom.

Grace reached for the ghom. "Don't hurt him!"

Simon ignored her and started sucking the life out of the cat. He stopped the instant Grace's arms wrapped around his waist. She picked him up and held him awkwardly, as if he were a large dog.

"Get them!" Stanley said to his crew before he leaped at Grace.

Simon pushed himself out of Grace's arms and wrapped his longest tendril around Stanley, dragging him over the bridge to its edge.

"Simon! You're making things worse!" Grace said.

Simon hissed something twice. It sounded like "Hostage. Hostage."

She nodded to him, then turned around to speak to the cats who separated her from Amelia and Hazel. "Step aside, or my ghom will throw Stanley to the wheel!"

The cats puffed up, hissing at her and showing their teeth and claws.

Grace put on a colder tone. "I'm not going to say this a third time. Step aside."

Simon held Stanley over the edge of the bridge, letting the cat dangle from the tendril. He followed Grace closely as the other cats made way for her.

After reaching Amelia's sound shield range, Grace immediately took Stanley out of Simon's grip. This caused Simon to break into yet another hissing fit. She threw Stanley into the crowd of cats, and they caught him. Then she said, "I am sorry about what the Apex has done, not just to Stanley's daughter, but to all denizens affected. I bear the blame for the murder and destruction. It is now my sworn duty to reform the Apex so we can make amends for what we have done."

Simon stomped the ground and chittered angrily.

"No, Simon," Grace said. "No more wheelings. No more destruction. We've been doing things wrong the whole time." Her number went down by two digits.

The ghom made screeching noises as he spun in place. First she fraternizes with the enemy, and now she wants to change the Apex? Clearly she was brainwashed by Amelia and the nulls. She was well aware that a null had abandoned him, and she had reminded him about the incident time and time again. Yet somehow all it took for her to change her tune was to be fooled by a human-shaped null. Was she not realizing she had been misled from the right path?

"The pulse should be hitting the bridge soon!" Amelia said. "Everyone, stand behind Hazel!" She looked at the girl. "Hazel, prepare to step back after you see the green line."

Hazel nodded at her. She watched the angry cats attempt to break through the shield by pressing it with their paws.

The green scan line went over the train cars until it reached the bridge. It detected Hazel just before she took a step back. The Cat City car was ejected and sent to the back of the train.

Grace said, "I hope this doesn't ruin their city."

"It'll be fine," Amelia said. "But this will make my job harder when I'll have to sort the cars."

"We promised we'll help."

Simon growled at Grace for that. He didn't promise anything!

Amelia checked something on her display device. "Let's move along. We are thirty cars away from the locomotive."

The gang followed her into the next car.

* * *

Inside the car, there was nothing but pristine white tiles, a concrete ceiling, and a fog in the distance that didn't allow sight of any wall. It seemed like the place went on to infinity.

Grace looked behind her to see the door through which she and the others came. "The door's not there anymore!"

"We'll have to find the exit after we complete whatever puzzle this car has for us," Amelia said. She bumped into something invisible that revealed itself to be a tall shelf like the ones seen in a supermarket. A gondola to be more specific.

The shelf fell forward and knocked another one, which in turn knocked another, and so on, starting a domino effect.

"Why would anyone put invisible shelves here?" Amelia asked.

Grace tried to walk around the food and shattered plates that came out of the fallen shelves, but she ran into another invisible shelf. It collapsed and made more mess, causing another domino effect.

Simon liked this, so he jumped at the area next to the shelf Amelia had toppled. To his delight, there was another invisible shelf that revealed itself once he struck it with his paws. It fell and added to the mess as it started a third domino effect.

Four red horn speakers materialized on the ceiling. A feminine voice came from them, saying, "Clean up on aisles 1 through 30!"

A mop denizen arrived. He had eyes and a mouth near the top end of his red stick body, and his feet were the gray threads of a mop. One of his threads pointed at the gang while the mop denizen said, "Look at this mess you've done! I've been keeping this place spotless until you lot came along. Have you no respect for the hard work that went into setting up this store?"

Amelia scowled at him. "If this is a store, then why is everything in it invisible until we run into it?"

"You didn't need to run into the shelf to make it visible," the mop denizen said. "It would have revealed itself to you if you had touched it gently just as well. But you people are in such a hurry, you end up destroying what could have been a good thing, if only you took the time and care to discover it."

"My apologies," Amelia said. "We will be more careful as we continue."

The mop denizen refused to move out of her way. "Not so fast. To make up for the damage you and the other two have caused, you must clean up this mess."

"We're going to need some tools for that," Grace said.

Simon wrapped his tendrils around the mop denizen and tried to drag him toward the fallen shelves.

"I am not a tool, you ignorant beast!" the mop denizen said.

Grace untied Simon's tendrils from the denizen and pushed the ghom away. "I'm sorry. My friend has some issues he needs to solve."

The denizen squinted at Simon. "He's a ghom. There's no solving that issue."

Simon chittered at him while fluttering his wings.

"Anyway," the mop denizen said, "your tools are about to arrive."

Three mops materialized from the ceiling and dropped. The one meant for Simon smacked him hard on the head, causing him to hiss and cover the sore spot with his paws.

The mop denizen pointed at the mops. "There you go. Now clean up this place, or you'll never leave this car." He turned around and walked away, disappearing into the fog in the distance.

After Amelia and Grace picked up their mops, Hazel said, "I want to help too!" She wanted to take the last mop, but was stopped by Grace.

"Hazel, that one's for Simon."

"But Simon doesn't even want to help out. You and Amelia hit the shelves by accident. He did it for fun."

"Which is _exactly_ why Simon must be the one cleaning up his own mess," Grace said. "Simon, you've extended the amount of work we'll have to do to clean up. You're not going to rest until you've cleaned up your share."

Hazel went to Amelia. "I want to help in any way that I can."

Amelia sighed. "Fine. You can put whatever isn't too damaged back on the shelves I lift."

"Yay!" Hazel said. She morphed into her fully human form.

"We're going to need water and buckets," Amelia said.

Three sinks, each equipped with its own cabinet with a bucket and trash can, appeared.

She shrugged. "Problem solved, I guess."

The gang spent one hour lifting shelves, mopping, and putting back products on the shelves. Simon had the worst time, lacking opposable thumbs and dealing with his quadrupedal body. At least he still had enough strength to lift and push the shelves until they were upright again.

The door that led outside the car appeared somewhere in the distance once everything was clean. The disembodied announcer voice said, "Amelia Hughes, Grace Monroe, Simon Laurent, and Hazel last name unknown are free to leave. All products in this car are free, but please do not hoard. Think of others who will come here after you. Have a nice day!"

Exhausted, Grace said, "I think we should rest here for a bit. We barely got any sleep before the ghom stuff happened."

Amelia sat on the floor. "Fine. My back is killing me after all this work."

* * *

Grace and Amelia ended up sleeping on the floor. Hazel decided to try to sleep next to Amelia, knowing she could be protected from Simon.

Speaking of which, the ghom chose to distance himself as much as possible from everyone. He tried to lie on the floor, but something kept bothering him. To get his mind off it he went to explore the shelves, touching them with his paw to make them visible.

"Hey, you!" Hazel's voice called from behind him.

Simon swiftly turned around and hissed.

"We need to talk," she said, looking fearless and turning full turtle.

He took a few steps back while holding his head lowered, chittering.

She pointed her claw at him. "Stop running like a coward. This is something you need to hear. So sit down and listen."

Simon approached her threateningly.

Hazel stood her ground. "Sit."

He sat.

She said, "Let me ask you something. Since Grace admitted that everything she taught you was wrong, do you still think you should follow what she taught you?"

He hissed and slammed the floor with his right paw.

"I'm guessing you think she has lost her way too."

Simon nodded.

"You didn't come to the conclusion that denizens cannot be trusted by yourself. You don't seem to believe that, but keep lying to yourself about it."

The ghom hissed and shook his head to the sides.

Hazel stomped the floor with her right foot. "Admit it! You're lying to yourself!"

Simon spread his wings out and growled.

"You're scared. Scared to admit you consider The Cat a _person_ reliable enough to give you that tape player thing you used on your closest friend. The Cat and Grace are enemies, and yet you took the risk of hurting Grace. You're no better than her if you actually believed denizens cannot be trusted and you still asked one for help. So either you are lying to yourself or you wanted to hurt Grace. Which is it?"

Simon's wings drooped off his back.

"Think for yourself, Simon! You've been letting Grace tell you about things she never even fully understood. What do you have once you remove what she taught you? _Who_ are you?" She left him to ponder on that one and went back to sleep inside her shell near Amelia.

Simon continued to sit, completely still. He hated to admit it, but Hazel did give him something to think about. Who was he anyway?

* * *

Grace woke up and observed Amelia, Hazel, and Simon as they searched through the shelves for food they might need.

Amelia got two cans of jam, a carton of ten eggs, a box of orange juice, and a dried salami. Hazel packed up crackers, cookies, an orange juice box, a pineapple, and three cartons of six eggs each. Simon tried to absorb the nonexistent life out of a snack bar. He was disappointed to learn that it was not possible.

"I'll get you some eggs," Grace said to him.

He hissed at her.

She stared at him with concern. "You sure seem grumpy. I guess you didn't get enough sleep. If ghoms sleep at all."

He growled and turned his back on her.

Grace put a carton of ten eggs in front of him. Seeing that he ignored them and refused to face her, she said, "I'll carry them in my pack then. Just let me know when you're hungry."

All she got in response was some mix of growling and hissing.

She frowned. "Okay, okay. You're still mad at me. I get it. I've misled you ever since we were kids, and that led you to do some things that you'll probably never get to live down. I'm sorry. I can't give my past self the knowledge I have now. All I can do is try to fix what can be fixed, and make better decisions from now on. No one's stopping you from doing the same. You just have to want to change."

Simon refused to look at her.

Amelia said, "You two better finish packing soon. We've still got a long way to go."

"We've got everything we need," Grace said. "We can go now."

After carefully making their way through the invisible maze of shelves by holding their hands before themselves, they exited the car. To Grace's surprise, she saw the graffiti on the next car's door. It was the Apex symbol – the A with a wave cutting it horizontally.

"This is the mall car," she said. "This is where the Apex retreats after … raiding other cars."

Amelia said, "Great. Now I have to pass through a sea of brats."

"I'll keep them under control."

Before Grace could open the door, Simon rushed to it and tried to turn the door handles. His paws weren't meant for it, but he somehow succeeded. Then he slammed the door open with his snout.

The Apex kids saw him, collectively gasped, then scrambled to their rooms while screaming.

Simon sighed and bowed his head. Back when he was a human, the kids would give him a warm welcome when he returned to the car. This just left him cold.

Grace entered and said, "Apex! Don't worry! It's just Simon!"

Nobody answered. All doors to the children's rooms were locked.

"Keep moving," Amelia said. "I don't have time for you to calm these kids down."

"Just wait here for a minute, please. I need to go get us some harpoon packs. It will shorten our journey by a lot if we just travel on the cars' tops."

"Fine. Anything to get this over with faster."

* * *

Now equipped with the harpoon packs, Amelia, Grace, and Hazel were ready to start climbing the train. There was just one problem.

"Simon will have to hang on to me since he can't use a harpoon pack," Grace said.

Simon proceeded to rant in a mix of chitters and hissing.

"You don't know how to fly, Simon. So that's your only option."

He reluctantly followed her and the rest outside. If only he could figure out how to fly …

Grace was near the door of the next car. She explained the harpoon packs to Hazel and Amelia. "You point them toward the area you want them to attach to, then you push the button on each and you can climb to the top. Just do not point them at your faces. One of the kids in the Apex lost an eye that way."

Simon was still on the bridge, walking toward the gang. He felt the breeze that went between his wings, and he got the sudden urge to give flying one more try. He started fluttering faster and faster, and jumped. The wind blew him off the train.

Grace heard the buzzing and looked behind her, only to see that Simon was missing. She quickly climbed to the top of the next car, hoping he hadn't fallen to the wheels. She was both relieved and shocked to see Simon on the edge of the rail, to the left of the train.

He sat there alone as the train took Grace further and further away from him.

"Simon!" Grace shouted. "I'm not leaving you there!" She used her harpoons to make her way down the train until she reached the wasteland's soil.

"Are you crazy?" Amelia asked her. "That place is infested with ghoms!"

Grace ignored her and ran toward Simon. Once she was in front of him, she said, "Phew, you're safe. Let's get back on the train."

He turned his head to the side and grunted.

"Simon! Don't give me that treatment! The train's passing us by! We need to hurry!"

Simon refused to budge.

While Grace kept pleading with him to come with her, three ghoms unearthed themselves. Unlike Simon – who was the same height as her if he were to stand on his hind legs – they were slightly taller than Grace, and had their wings tucked under the elytra on their backs. Sensing Grace's aura, they sprinted toward her and pounced on her back.

Grace kicked them off herself, but they kept coming at her and trying to absorb her life. She was on the ground as she screamed, "Simon! Help me! They're … ganging up on me! I can't … keep fighting for long!"

For a second Simon seemed like he wanted to step in, but chose to turn his back on Grace. He dug himself a hole and buried his body under the ground, leaving his three tendrils to wiggle at the surface.


	4. The Wedding Car

The three ghoms kept fighting over which one gets to drain Grace of life. Each one that managed to touch her with its tendrils took some of her energy, making her kicks and punches less and less effective in pushing them away.

Simon refused to come out of the pit he had buried himself in, and Grace wondered why he could not understand that she was risking her life for him. She gave up shouting for help too. If there was anyone willing and able to save her, she hoped that conserving her energy would increase her chances of survival until help arrived.

The ghoms found themselves stricken from behind by something. They turned around to be faced with Amelia.

"I told you this place is infested with ghoms," Amelia said. "You just had to go after your ungrateful cockroach friend."

Grace struggled to regain her breath. She could barely crawl, but she managed to move away from the distracted ghoms.

Amelia took a few steps back. "Keep moving away. I'll send them flying."

Hazel watched in fear, standing behind behind her.

The hungry ghoms tried to dog-pile on Amelia. To their surprise, they received a smack so hard they tumbled through the air toward the red sky.

"We better get back on the train before they manage to fly back," Amelia said.

"I'm not leaving without Simon," Grace said.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "The train is going away, woman!"

Grace didn't care. She went toward the three tendrils that stuck out of the soil, and she grabbed the longest one, pulling it hard.

Simon protested in growls, yelps, and hisses, but could not avoid being "uprooted" from his burrow.

Grace's glare seemed to be burning into him. "Why did you leave me for dead, Simon? Aren't we Apex supposed to stick together?"

Simon huffed and looked away, pulling his tendril out of her hand.

Grace crossed her arms. "Aren't _friends_ supposed to stick together?" She pointed at him. "I came to pick you up as soon as I noticed you fell off the train. Yet you repay me like this."

He faced her again, lowered his snout, and whined.

"Ahem! The train is leaving!" Amelia said.

Grace extended one of her harpoons, then looked at Simon. "You're coming with me, whether you like it or not." She wrapped the harpoon's rope around his waist and carried him all the way to the train, ignoring his whining. With the other harpoon, she climbed her way back to the top of a car.

Amelia and Hazel joined her. Finally, the gang was complete again.

After checking her tablet, Amelia said, "We're now seventy cars away from the locomotive, thanks to you dumb kids!"

"I'm sorry, Amelia," Grace said. "If I had left Simon there, this journey would have been for nothing. I can't give up on him. He's my friend, even if he's been a huge jerk during the past days."

Simon's tendrils drooped.

Grace added, "We have the harpoon packs. It should be easier to get to the locomotive now."

"Then get going! You're wasting my time again!" With that, Amelia went up ahead and jumped to the next car. The rest of the gang followed.

Meanwhile, the three wild ghoms managed to descend from where they had been sent. They resumed pursuing their targets with more care.

* * *

After jumping over so many cars, Amelia, Grace, and Hazel were feeling very exhausted. Simon wanted to walk, but Grace wouldn't untie him, so he had to dangle from her waist.

"Six more cars to go," Amelia announced.

Just before they could jump onto the next car, it detached itself and climbed.

"Cling to the sides!" Amelia said. "The cars are changing!"

Everyone jumped off the current car and used the harpoons to stick to the train while the other car got sent to the back. In its place, another car arrived from the back.

When Amelia got back to the top, she saw the three ghoms hover above the train. "Not these things again."

"Looks like we'll have to go inside," Grace said. "We can handle six more cars."

"Not like we have a choice. My shield's not going to last forever, and there's a swarm of ghoms heading this way."

A dozen ghoms joined the other three and, like hungry vultures, flew in circles above their prey.

Everyone rushed to the door of the next car. Once they were all inside, they slammed the doors hard in the snout of a ghom.

"That was close," Hazel said.

Grace untied Simon and allowed him to walk around. Her mouth remained open when she realized what car they were in.

At the center there was a destroyed stage of an auditorium. The decorations of the room were charred and covered in soot, but they still resembled fir trees, hills, clouds, and bushes. Even the sky was covered in black due to the smoke of the fire started by the Apex.

"Look at this place," Grace said. "It used to be beautiful and full of happiness. Then we came and ruined it all."

Simon stuck his nose up and walked triumphantly among the rubble. That raid had provided the most fun he had had in _months._ Why would he regret it?

"This car needs to be repaired," Amelia said. "You and that cockroach of yours are going to have a field day with this one."

Grace sighed. "I know."

Just when they got to the other door of the car, they saw the gray denizen that looked like half a buskin mask. He didn't float anymore, and lay still in a corner of the room.

Grace's right hand shook as she touched the sad mask's face. "He's dead."

All Simon had to say to that was, "Hmpf!"

They left the car, only to be "welcomed" by a ghom on the bridge. The other beasts were still flying around, although not too close to the train.

"Stick with me until we get inside the car!" Amelia said.

Simon decided to challenge the wild ghom to a fight, so he jumped at it and tackled it before trying to absorb its energy. In response, the wild ghom tried to absorb his energy too, and they ended up chasing each other in circles and screeching loudly.

Amelia scowled. "Wonderful. Now how are we going to tell them apart? I need to know which one gets the boot."

Hazel said, "Simon's the one with the clumsy wings."

"She's right," Grace said. "Simon doesn't know how to hide his wings like the normal ghoms do."

Amelia walked over to the two ghoms and kicked the one that had its wings hidden. It fell off the train and ended up under the wheel. Simon stepped aside and allowed her to pass.

The next car was a room made entirely of reflective surfaces, with random 3D geometric shapes scattered across it. Many of the shapes and some portions of the floor were cracked.

"We trashed this car on our way to the wedding cake car," Grace said, staring into the eyes of the mirror image of herself.

Simon was too busy fighting with his own reflection.

Amelia didn't even care to look at her own reflection. It walked perfectly in sync with her.

Hazel looked at the floor. All she could see were her bare feet. No reflection. "Why does everyone have an upside-down version of themselves and I don't?"

"Probably because I've created you and you weren't supposed to exist," Amelia said.

Hazel frowned. "I wasn't supposed to exist?"

"I was trying to bring Alrick back. The train refused to cooperate with me, and as a result you are an anomaly to the train."

"So I don't get a working number, I don't get to see myself in this floor, I can't just be a normal kid … What else can't I do?"

Amelia shrugged at Hazel. "I guess we'll find out along the way."

Grace noticed that Simon kept falling behind. "Simon! Stop fighting with yourself and keep moving! You're the reason we're on this journey in the first place!"

After growling at his reflection one last time, Simon caught up with the others.

The door was already open, so there was no need for anyone to cooperate with their reflection to get out. This was just another car left out of order.

* * *

Another round of avoiding the ghoms on the bridge later, the gang entered a car full of giant, splattered wedding cakes.

"More things we've destroyed," Grace said.

Hazel took a piece of cake with her hand and ate it. "Tastes delicious!"

Simon tried to suck in the cream of a pink cake, but the second it entered his mouth he started choking and shaking his head. Not only did it taste like nothing, but the texture disgusted him. The sad life of a ghom: can't even enjoy cake.

The exit had a graffiti of the Apex symbol. Grace opened it and looked at the sky outside. Ghoms still swarmed above the train, and it was only a matter of time before they'd dive in for the kill. "Let's hurry to the next car! The ghoms are still here."

They successfully reached the next car and closed the door behind them just as the ghoms flew at them. What the travelers didn't expect was for the car to host a wedding on a green field. And not just any wedding. A man in his early thirties with short black hair and a bit of a belly was dressed in a tuxedo while his bride was a red swan dressed in a white wedding gown. They were in the process of getting married to each other.

The priest, who was a gray owl, said, "Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Simon decided to make a stink by screeching then hissing at the bride and groom.

The denizens present at the wedding turned to look at him. One of them – a male giraffe denizen – said, "There's a ghom in here! Somebody call security!"

"Kill it before it lays eggs!" a lamp denizen with a blue lampshade yelled.

Grace stepped in front of Simon and held her palms toward the denizens. "There's no need to worry. He's with me. He won't hurt you if I won't let him." She looked down at the ghom. "Right, Simon?"

He hissed and flattened his body on the ground.

The denizens whispered to each other while keeping their eyes on the ghom. Some of them calmed down while others still shot nasty looks at Simon.

Amelia went up to Grace and said, "The exit isn't here yet. I think we have to participate at the wedding or at least wait until it's over."

The priest resumed his duty and said, "You may now kiss."

The bride and groom kissed, much to Simon's disgust. Why would anyone marry a null? Not that nulls … weren't good at holding a conversation, or offering you help when you asked, but why would one fool themselves into thinking a toy could genuinely love? Well, at least the fool marrying that thing was happy. Whatever floats his boat.

There was a table full of all kinds of drinks a bit further from the area, so Amelia, Hazel, and Simon went there to check it out. Grace intended to go there too, but the music started, tempting the denizens to dance. She remembered the ball she and Simon had taken part in. That brought a smile to her face.

Sitting atop a stool with all four of his paws, Simon probed a glass of champagne with his longest tendril. He was disappointed that he had no interest in drinking it. After growling at the glass, he pushed it off the table and hunched his posture.

At the same table, Hazel found and drank a cup of orange juice, and Amelia enjoyed some red wine.

Grace went next to Simon and tapped him on the back. He responded by turning around and hissing at her. She said, "Hey, grumpy, care to dance?"

Simon sat there trying to decide. He didn't really enjoy dancing, and after rethinking his stance on Grace, he didn't even want to get that close to her again. But there was nothing else to do since all of those drinks were undrinkable to him, and he couldn't hold any conversation with anyone due to being unable to speak. Maybe dancing would reduce his boredom, but he feared he would look ridiculous as a dancing ghom. It didn't help that the denizens gave him disgusted looks as if he were a cockroach. Wait. He actually was some kind of cockroach. Only bigger. And with dog legs. And a tail.

Grace frowned. "I guess that's a no." She sat on the stool next to him. His paw touched her left arm.

Simon nodded. This brought the smile back on her face.

The crowd of dancing denizens was joined by Grace and Simon. A large distance was kept from the duo, because nobody wanted to be near a ghom. Yet neither one of the two cared. They spun around, holding hands and looking at each other.

Hazel, now in full human form, watched Grace and Simon as they danced. "I think Simon still cares about Grace, even if he's mad at her for misleading him."

Amelia, who sat on the stool next to her, said, "That boy is a train wreck. I pity Grace for loving him. The anger issues he has make him even more dangerous now that he's a ghom."

Simon never thought he would enjoy dancing, but the music was fast-paced and fitted his taste. Grace was a very skilled dancer too. For once, he enjoyed doing something that didn't involve destroying things or making miniatures. The wings on his back fluttered so fast he managed to get off the ground.

Grace held on to him as she spun with him. She smiled and said, "Looks like you're starting to get the hang of flying. Do you think you could stay airborne on your own?"

He gave a whimper as response.

"Come on, just try it!" she said as she let go of his paws.

Simon spun in circles in the air for a bit before figuring out how to hover without being held. The music inspired him to try and fly upward in a spiral toward the blue sky while howling with glee.

As the other dancers stood still and stared at the ghom above them, Hazel said, "He learned to fly!"

"I'm not sure that's a good thing," Amelia said before finishing her glass of wine.

Simon returned to Grace, flew around her three times, and joined her hands with his paws so they could dance together again. He couldn't smile, and had no visible eyes, but Grace was sure he was happy.

The swan bride threw the bouquet into the crowd, and several denizens tried to catch it. Grace saw it fly her way and caught it more out of a defensive reflex than knowing what it was. She looked at the blue roses it was made of.

"She's lucky," a blue female hippo denizen said.

"Who's she going to marry? The ghom?" the giraffe denizen said before laughing.

Simon heard that, but he didn't care. All he cared about was that he and Grace were having fun at the party. He stared at her for a moment before seeing something white being thrown his way. Using his wings, he flew out of the way and avoided getting hit.

The male giraffe picked the object off the ground and said, "Ha! I got the garter!" He approached Grace. "So, pretty lady, since you have the bouquet, how's about we dance? Maybe we can get together and be the next groom and bride."

Seeing this, Simon screeched and went between Grace and the giraffe. He pointed his longest tendril at the giraffe's head as if accusing him of something.

Grace said, "Sorry, sir, but I've had enough dancing."

Simon's tendril drooped, just like his wings. Seriously? That was her excuse? Not that she already had a dance partner? He whined and went to lie next to Hazel at the table.

Grace went to talk to him. "What's wrong?"

Simon turned his back to her.

"Oh. You're upset because I didn't tell him you were my dance partner."

The ghom puffed out some air from his snout.

She patted him on the head. He grabbed her hand with his longest tendril and pushed it away.

Hazel said, "Here we go again."

Grace frowned. "Simon, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I didn't lie about having enough dancing. I wanted to ask you to join me at the table." She poured herself some champagne from a bottle. "Now that we're here, might as well enjoy a drink."

Simon whined while looking at the ground.

Grace put a carton of eggs next to him. "I don't want you to feel left out, so I hope you can enjoy these."

He stared at the eggs for a second before sucking the life out of them and leaving only ashes in the carton. Then he hopped onto the stool between Grace and Hazel and sat there as Grace consumed her drink.

* * *

An hour later, the gang were at another table where food was being served. All four of them stuck together. The denizens realized the four were no threat, so they no longer minded sitting close to them or that there was a ghom at the table.

Amelia checked her tablet, then said, "The pulse will hit this car in two minutes. We better get going. The door's already open since the wedding has ended."

"Right," Grace said.

They all went outside to the bridge. The ghom swarm had not reached that area yet. Hazel was prepared to cross to the other side.

Amelia kept an eye on the tablet. "Less than one minute. This will be yet another car wrongly sent to the back."

"Can't I avoid it if I jump?" Hazel asked.

"The scan's range is as tall as the cars. You would need to fly to get out of its range."

Hearing what Amelia said gave Simon an idea. He fanned out his wings and took flight, grabbing Hazel along the way.

She turned into a turtle again. "What are you doing? Put me down!"

He took her higher and higher, then stopped at a high enough altitude so they could watch the scan pass over the train cars safely. His chittering sounded like laughter.

"They avoided the scan," Amelia said.

"That's good," Grace said. "I thought Simon was going to wheel her." She still feared that he might get that idea. After all, they were still in mid air.

Simon gently placed Hazel near the door of the next car. She regained her human form once calming down. They were joined by Amelia and Grace soon after, and reached the door just before the ghom swarm arrived.

The gang entered yet another car raided by the Apex. It was full of shards of glass belonging to glassware denizens. There was no life in sight, just bodies of the Apex's victims, and various liquids all over the ground, which was made out of plates of various sizes.

"Are you sure One-One isn't aware of the Apex?" Grace asked. "Most of these cars seem to have something to do with our raids."

Amelia said, "I've never seen that robot do anything other than keep an eye on the numbers on the screen and discuss with himself about how high or low those numbers were. I know he says he wants to improve life for the passengers, but he seems to be failing at helping them get off the train. Or keeping them in line for that matter, as you and your cockroach know."

Simon growled at her.

"I wonder if this place had orange juice," Hazel said.

Grace avoided a purple puddle. "It had juice of all kinds. It had everything you've seen on the table at the wedding. Except it was in large quantities and was carried by each denizen inside their head."

Simon fondly remembered a particular moment from the raid on the glassware car. He and Grace got drunk on champagne back then, and somehow still managed to fight off the nulls that tried to stop them. He nearly kissed Grace after the battle ended, but he was still too shy to do so while the Apex kids were watching. A sigh escaped his snout.

Amelia avoided the glass shards. She said, "Careful, Hazel. You're walking barefoot here, and you might get cuts if you step on these."

"I am careful," Hazel said, tiptoeing.

Something caught Simon's attention, so he halted. There were two legless champagne cups and a smaller one completely crumbled between them. That was not a pleasant memory. Those were his victims, made during his drunken rampage with a baseball bat during the raid. Back then he had a fleeting moment of questioning his actions after he had murdered that family. It only lasted until Grace asked him to help her deal with more of the nulls there.

In the present, with a clear mind, Simon reflected on that murder again. For some reason, it hurt more than it did back then to look at the family he had destroyed. They weren't even a threat. They had begged him not to hurt their child, and yet he incapacitated the parents and made them watch as he smashed the little glass.

Grace approached him. "Simon?"

He was unable to react to her. The dead family before him made him ponder things he had barely paid any attention to before. If nulls weren't people, and their entire purpose was to entertain passengers, then why did they establish families? Why did they care about each other? Why did Tuba miss her kids? Why did … Why did Hazel cry for Tuba?

"Simon, are you okay?" Grace asked, putting her left hand on his right shoulder.

He whined, ignored Grace, and looked at Hazel for a brief moment before moving along.

Grace took in a deep breath. She hoped this meant he was starting to wake up to reality. They've killed people, and it would haunt them forever.

* * *

The outside was getting even more dangerous. Hundreds of ghoms gathered above the train. Some of them even sat atop the train cars and waited patiently.

"This swarming behavior is getting out of hand," Amelia said.

"Why are they gathering here?" Grace asked.

"Who knows? Maybe there's a shortage of people falling off the train."

Five ghoms flew at the gang but were repelled by Amelia's sound shield. The travel to the next car was successful.

This car was a maze with walls made of crystal hexagons. There seemed to be nothing interesting or dangerous lurking around.

"This is the last car we have to pass through," Amelia said. "Let's hope this maze doesn't become complicated."

As if she spoke too soon, the maze's ceiling lowered a crystal wall to separate her and Hazel from Grace and Simon. A room with more such crystals could be seen through the new wall, but there was nobody there. Another hexagon of the right side wall went up into the ceiling to allow Simon and Grace to travel along another path.

Grace slammed the front wall with her fists. "Amelia! Hazel!"

"We're okay," Hazel said. "But we can't see you. We just see an empty room through this wall."

"I'd use my sound shield to break the wall," Amelia said, "but it might cause the ceiling to collapse over us. Hazel and I will try to get to the exit. We'll regroup there."

"All right," Grace said. "Let's keep going, Simon."

Simon followed her through the new path. They were about to take a left turn once reaching a corner, but he and Grace saw something unexpected in front of them.

Staring back from within the wall were Simon in his human form, and beside him a ghom.


	5. The Universe Intersection Car

Grace approached the crystal wall, and so did the ghom in front of her. She stopped once she was only two steps away, then looked at the ghom's right arm. It had the exact same number she had. Also, unlike ghom Simon, it knew how to hide its wings.

Ghom Simon drew closer, and so did human Simon. The former raised his numberless right arm. The latter did the same and had no numbers to show either.

"They're us," Grace said. The other ghom squeaked at the same time as she spoke.

Human Simon said, "It looks like a mirror of sorts." He waved at Grace while ghom Simon waved at the ghom corresponding to Grace and squeaked.

Grace looked down at the other ghom, and it looked back at her. "It's like a mirror universe where I'm the ghom."

"And I'm a ghom in that universe," human Simon said in sync with his ghom self. "Wait! Simon, I've got an idea! I can talk to human Grace, and you can talk to ghom Grace. That way ghom Grace can understand what I'm saying, and human Grace can understand what you are saying."

"Good idea," Grace and her ghom self said.

"Okay, here goes," the human Simon said and hoped his ghom counterpart followed along with the plan. "Grace, I'm sorry for leaving you when you were attacked by the humans–err wait. I suppose it's ghoms in your universe. I was mad at you for manipulating me, not just recently, but throughout all these years. I know I went overboard with the grudge. You should have just left me to rot in the wasteland. I didn't deserve to be saved."

Human Grace had tears in her eyes while her ghom counterpart whined. "Simon, you're my friend! I couldn't leave you there. I care about you. It's not too late to get your head out of the sand. You've seen the consequences of our actions. I've decided to stop the cruelty. It's up to you to change and not cause more harm."

Human Simon lowered his head, and so did his ghom self. "I'll think about it. Right now there's a lot for my mind to unpack. I'm not even sure what is real anymore. It's like a bad dream. Everything happened so fast, it feels like the whole world's crumbling around me!" He stomped the floor with his right foot, and so did his counterpart.

Human Grace hugged ghom Simon, and ghom Grace jumped to hug human Simon. Both Graces said, "It's okay. I'm sure it will all make sense once we find the true Conductor."

"I hope so," the Simons said.

The mirror universe wall was lifted into the ceiling, allowing ghom Simon and human Grace to continue their journey with a better understanding of each other.

* * *

While most of the corridor's hexagonal cells did not display anything but empty corridors, a few of them had both Grace and Simon in human form exploring together and ignoring this universe's versions as they passed by. One cell had ghom versions of both of them, but the counterparts ignored them. Another cell had Grace as a man and Simon as a woman. And yet another had Simon as a brunette and Grace as a blonde. There were other universes where ten year old Simon walked through the corridor along with Samantha, or where Grace wandered alone and the only difference on her was that her fanny pack was purple, or where Simon teamed up with Randall, or where Simon and Grace traveled along with Hazel and Tuba, all looking happy. That last one made Grace frown. It could have been their future, had events gone another way in their universe.

The ceiling dropped another wall in front of this universe's Grace and Simon. Within the wall, there was a skinny old man dressed in rags. He had long, gray hair, a mustache, and a long beard that reached the end of his chest. His entire skin was covered in green glowing digits, and his eyes had the thousand yard stare. Simon shuddered at how much he felt he related to that person. It looked like …

"He's an elderly version of you!" Grace said. "I wonder what he did to get his number that high."

The old man turned his head to the left to stare at her. In a shaky, weak voice, he said, "Y-you! It c-can't be! I-I'm hallucinating again! I-I kicked you off the train! I s-saw it with my own eyes! There's no way you can be real. No way I can get another chance to talk to Grace again. There's just … no way. To say I'm sorry. There's no way. She's gone. She's still gone. She's not here." He continued walking. "She's not here. She's just … not here anymore." He went out of sight.

Ghom Simon looked at Grace and whined.

"That's another universe," she said, looking back at him with a sad smile on her face. "I guess things went too far in it. We better mind our own."

They turned to the left and saw the backs of the human versions of themselves. As they advanced, they saw their counterparts also advance toward a wall in which two ghom versions of themselves walked away. The wall went into the ceiling when they were one step away from it, for all versions.

As Simon and Grace went on, they heard the sound of broken glass, then a scream that seemed to be Grace's.

"What's going on there?" Grace asked.

More glass was broken, but there was no way to see past the walls of the corridor if it was happening in their universe.

The duo continued their travel. In one wall on the right, a crying human Simon traveled alongside a one-eyed One-One.

"It wasn't your fault," the robot said in a cold, distorted voice. "We just couldn't stand up to them."

Human Simon clenched his fists and grimaced. "If I weren't so weak, Samantha would still be alive right now!"

The robot tapped human Simon on the right leg. "We can tell ourselves about ifs all day. It won't change the past. We weren't prepared, and we had no way to expect what happened. Be glad they were distracted by someone else and let us live."

Human Simon raised his fists and shouted, "Now they're going to kill the unlucky bastards in other universes! How can I be glad about that?"

"Just keep going, Simon," the robot said. "We'll be out of this car soon. We'll be safe."

Grace waved at them. "Excuse me! Would you mind telling us who is–"

After another sound of broken glass echoed through the corridor, the human Simon and his robot companion ran away in silence.

"Something's not right here," Grace said. She tried to continue walking through the corridor, but another wall was lowered from the ceiling. The one to her left was raised at the same time as the one to her right. "I guess we'll go to the left."

Just as she and Simon were about to reach the corner of the corridor, something white and fluffy was thrown at the wall to their left, and dropped hard on the floor.

Simon immediately recognized what – or rather who – it was. He ran toward the fluffy mass and pushed it with his snout. It was Samantha, and she wasn't breathing anymore. He put his left paw on top of her and howled out his sorrow at the ceiling.

"The Cat," Grace said.

Simon looked to the right and saw three people there.

The frontmost one was a buff guy with long, blond hair with a strand sticking out from above his forehead. He was dressed in green camo pants and camo sleeveless shirt, and had boots similar to Simon's. He was covered in numbers all the way up to right below his chin. He held a human Simon by the throat and said, "Such a wimp. I'm ashamed to be your counterpart." The weaker Simon went limp and got thrown to the ground by the buff one, remaining completely still for good.

All the way in the back, in front of a busted hexagon, there was a buff version of Grace. She too had numbers covering all but her face. She said, "Hey, Simon, look! There's a wimp version of me here."

"And she has a pet ghom," the buff Simon said. "Heheh. How cute."

"You take on the ghom, and I'll deal with her myself," buff Grace said.

"All right! Bring it on, lil' puppy!"

Ghom Simon growled while spreading his wings. He jumped at buff Simon, only to receive a punch in the snout and be sent flying into the wall behind him.

Buff Grace tried to kick Grace, who jumped out of the way.

"So you are the guys wrecking havoc in this car!" Grace said.

Buff Grace smirked at her. "How nice of you to notice!" She successfully kicked Grace in the right leg, just below the knee pad.

Grace maintained her balance and jumped away. "Why are you doing this? What happened in your universe for you to go this far? You're even murdering Apex members!"

Buff Simon laughed. "Forget the Apex. Those little cowards ran away as soon as we wheeled that deserter Lucy. We caught them all and wheeled them too."

Grace gasped. "You've … How could you wheel the children?!"

"How could we not?" buff Grace asked. "They were going to organize an uprising against us. They've allied themselves with the nulls. We can't have that if we want to keep our spots as the king and queen of the train."

"You're disgusting!" Grace said.

Buff Grace looked at her own red nails nonchalantly. "No, dear, _you're_ disgusting. With such a flimsy physique and a weak heart, you are unfit to be the queen of this train. So Simon and I will conquer your train too."

Ghom Simon jumped at buff Grace and pushed her into a wall. He started sucking her life through her abdomen, but she caught him in a headlock and threw him at buff Simon. "Now let's continue our fight, flimsy me!" she said as she approached Grace.

While the two women fought using a technique that made them look as if they were dancing, buff Simon kept kicking ghom Simon around. He managed to grab the ghom and throw him into a wall, cracking it and sending ghom Simon into another universe.

"Simon!" Grace yelled.

Buff Grace took advantage of that and kicked Grace in the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Oh, so your Simon is a ghom, huh?" buff Simon said. He approached the ghom, who struggled to get up. "You'll make a fine trophy. I'll put you right next to that pesky deer's stuffed corpse."

Ghom Simon growled and fluttered his wings. He jumped at buff Simon and flew toward the guy's back, grabbing him by the shoulders with his paws. Buff Simon stared up to see a ghom mouth sucking his energy. He grabbed ghom Simon and threw him head first into the ground.

Grace kept trying to get up, but buff Grace was on top of her, pulling her by the hair.

Buff Simon towered over ghom Simon, who could barely make sense of his surroundings. He held his arms crossed and said, "Look at you. Pathetic loser. I'm no longer scared of ghoms. I hunt them and eat them for breakfast!" He had the smile of a person who went off the rails long ago.

Ghom Simon tried to get up again, in spite of all the pain he felt all over his body.

Buff Simon activated his left foot's shoe and said, "You're just a void. You're nothing!" He slammed his foot hard on Simon's abdomen, causing the ghom to yelp in agony.

"Stop! Let him go!" Grace shouted, still trying to push buff Grace off herself. She remembered she had something in her fanny pack, so she searched in it with her left hand.

"Why should Simon let your ghom go?" buff Grace asked. "He hunted it, so it's his trophy now."

Grace brought out the tape player and started it in front of buff Grace while looking away. Buff Grace fell into a trance while watching her own memories, allowing Grace to slip from under her.

Buff Simon turned around and saw his companion drool on the floor while Grace was heading his way. "Hey! What did you do to my Grace?"

Grace tried to kick him in the groin, but she was grabbed by the leg and thrown into a wall by buff Simon. He went to the tape player and stopped it, allowing buff Grace to snap out of the trance. "You okay?" he asked, helping her up while throwing the player away.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's finish them off."

He smiled devilishly at her. "All right!"

Grace got back on her feet, put the player back in her fanny pack, and went to her Simon's side. "I'm getting you out of here, Simon."

Ghom Simon kept whining, trying to stay awake in spite of the extreme pain he was in.

The buff duo walked menacingly toward them, sporting sadistic grins on their faces.

"Just leave us alone!" Grace said. "We don't want to fight you! We just want to get to the Conductor."

"What a coincidence!" buff Simon said. "We also want to get to the Conductor." He clenched his right first. "So we can smash that little robot into pieces!"

The wall behind the buff duo was lifted, and Amelia and Hazel walked in.

"So, that man with the other you was Alrick?" Hazel asked.

"Yes," Amelia said. "At least there's one Amelia who still has her Alrick." She went into battle stance the moment she saw the buff duo with Grace and Simon looking worse for wear. "What is going on here?"

The buff duo turned around and faced her.

"Amelia," buff Simon said. "We wheeled four versions of you, of that shapeshifting null, and of the fat gorilla null." He put his hands together and cracked his fingers in preparation for a fight. "I'm up for a fifth round."

"Unlike those versions of me, I will not be as defenseless," Amelia said, glaring daggers at him.

"Bring it on, old hag!" buff Simon said while gesturing to her to come closer.

Amelia walked toward him, looking calm. As soon as she reached the buff duo, she used her sound shield to repel them to the sides so she could pass them with Hazel, who followed right behind her.

"What the hell are you using on us?" buff Simon asked. He and buff Grace prepared to attack her again.

"Listen up, you barking mad kids!" Amelia said, repelling the buff duo with her sound shield again as soon as they approached. "You will return to whichever universe's train you came from, and you will _never_ set foot on this train again."

The buff duo got back on their feet. Buff Simon said, "You can't restrict us to just our train! We're out to conquer them all! We're train hoppers! Ahahahaha!"

Amelia looked unimpressed at him. "I will count to three. If you don't cease hostilities, I will be forced to cease your existence. One."

The buff duo lunged at her, trying to kick her from above. They got bounced back by the invisible shield.

Amelia pushed Hazel away and pointed to her to go join their universe's Simon and Grace. "Two."

The enemies got up and tried to punch Amelia. The shield threw them away again.

"Three."

They charged together head first. The shield became a pulse so strong it disintegrated them into golden flames the moment it hit them. The walls around Amelia cracked too.

Amelia gained two rows of digits on her neck, and she slowly shook her head side to side. "Stupid kids."

Grace held ghom Simon in a hug as she watched the last sparks of their aggressive counterparts fade away.

Simon managed to fully wake up and felt all the pain from his abdomen, which had been flattened by buff Simon's boot. It drove him to repeatedly yelp like a scared dog and shake his snout in all sides while his legs twitched.

Amelia approached the duo and said, "I don't think he's going to make it. I might have to put him out of his misery."

"No!" Grace said, hugging Simon tighter in spite of his screaming and struggling. "No. We will keep going, and I will ask One-One to save him!"

"That robot is no wizard, Grace. I don't think he can save him. We can try, but your friend might die before we get there."

"Then we must hurry!" Grace said, getting up and carrying the still yelping and thrashing Simon in her arms.


	6. The True Conductor

Grace ran through the corridors with Simon still squirming in her arms. She avoided shaking him whenever possible to not cause him more pain than he was already in. She couldn't slow down too much either. His life was slipping away fast, so it was a race against time.

Amelia and Hazel followed closely from behind them. Amelia's belt was no longer showing the red sine wave – a sign that it ran out of battery.

As the gang passed through the maze of alternate universe walls, they saw the destruction that the buff versions of Simon and Grace were probably behind. There were dead Simons and Graces, another version of dead Samantha with black fur, a whole crew made of Simon, Grace, Hazel, and Tuba dead, Hazel and Amelia dead, and even a destroyed One-One whose pieces had been scattered all over the floor.

"I won't let them have another kill," Grace said, looking at the suffering ghom in her arms. "We will get to One-One. Everything's going to be fine."

All Simon could do was emit muffled whines. His energy was very low.

The gang finally reached the end of the maze. Amelia opened the door so they could all exit.

Outside, the ghom swarm had dissipated for the most part. Only two ghoms remained atop the universe intersection car. They sensed the people going on the bridge, so they spread their wings and flew in for the kill.

"My sound shield's out of battery," Amelia said. "Run!"

A ghom landed on her back and tried to suck her life force. She rammed it into the bridge's rail with her back, causing the creature to release her.

The other ghom landed in front of Grace, blocking her path. She couldn't fight while carrying Simon, and she didn't want to risk letting him roll off the bridge.

Hazel went full turtle and stepped between Grace and the ghom. She showed it her claws. "Get out of the way. I don't want to use these to hurt someone, so don't make me use them."

The ghom screeched and leaped at her, ready to take her down. Hazel screamed as she held her claws in front of herself. The ghom ended up getting its chest punctured as it landed on top of Hazel. It yelped and jumped off her, flying away.

Grace said, "Thank you, Hazel." Then she reached the door of the locomotive. She looked behind. "Amelia!"

Amelia was still kicking and punching at the other ghom. She and Hazel made their way to the door as well.

The ghom insisted on absorbing Amelia's energy, so she grabbed it by the long tendril and swung the ghom off the bridge. It almost got wheeled, escaping without its left side wings that had been crushed by the train's wheel.

"Now that the ghoms are out of our hair, we can enter the locomotive," Amelia said. She took in a deep breath and … whistled the tune she and One-One used to control the Steward before.

The door to the locomotive opened automatically.

* * *

The locomotive was a pretty dark place, with only the screens of various computers and machinery providing light. At the center there was the monster Grace remembered from the pumpkin car. The Steward. Its mask was cracked, but it still seemed scary to her.

"One-One!" Grace shouted. "We need your help! Desperately!"

The Steward walked toward her and stared into her eyes. Its mask lifted itself up to reveal One-One.

"Ah, welcome, welcome!" the robot said in his cheerful voice. "Grace Monroe and Simon Laurent. I've been expecting you two."

Grace placed Simon on the floor. "Please! He's dying! Save him!"

"I think he can be saved, but I'll have to ask you to trust me. Can you do do that, Miss Grace?"

"Sure," she said, although she wasn't that really sure. One-One did seem scarier than she expected.

One-One used one of the Steward's claws to point at a large gun that lay atop a desk. "You will have to shoot him with that cannon."

Grace had tears in her eyes. "What? You're making me shoot him?"

"Just trust me," One-One said.

Grace went to get the gun, then picked it up. It had a glowing blue orb in it. She pointed it at Simon. "I'm sorry if this kills you, Simon. It looks like this is our last hope." She fired the gun.

A blue beam of light hit the ghom. It seemed to have no effect, and Simon remained completely still.

Sobbing, Grace approached the ghom's body and gently stroked his head.

Even Hazel and Amelia felt sorry for the duo.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to start writing his obituary," One-One said as Sad-One.

A muffled voice came from within the ghom's body. The ghom's back cracked open, and Simon broke out looking fully restored, clothes and all. He pointed at One-One and said, "I don't trust you with writing my obituary! I don't even trust that you're the true Conductor!"

One-One jumped out of the Steward's head and landed next to Simon's feet. In Glad-One's voice, he said, "If I'm not the Conductor, then how come I can do this?" He went to the control board and jumped into its hole. Then he sounded off the train's horn.

Simon's eyes went from side to side. "Well, uh, you could have modified the train to do your bidding!"

"Amelia tried to do that while she took over, but it would still not fully listen to her," One-One said. "You've met her, and now you've met me. There is no other conductor." He split into his halves.

His Sad-One half said, "Technically, there are two true conductors, but most of the time we are one."

"This can't be true," Simon said.

One-One became whole again and said in Glad-One's voice, "Why not?"

Simon scowled. "Because I find it hard to believe that a robot the size of a soccer ball can be in charge of such an advanced train!"

"Well, this soccer ball possesses the profile of every passenger of this train." The smugness could be read in One-One's eyes. "Including yours."

Simon's jaw dropped. "You've got my profile?! Hey! I didn't give you permission to access information about me!"

Grace said, "Simon, I didn't give you permission to check my memories, and yet you did it anyway."

Simon glared at her. "When even my best friend prefers to side with someone they've barely known for a few days, why is it any wonder that I tried to figure out what's wrong?"

One-One popped out of the control board's slot and asked, "But was there truly something wrong, or were _you_ the one who was wrong all along?"

Simon shouted, "Why would I be wrong? Nulls aren't people because only people get glowing numbers. And numbers are power. The more numbers I got, the easier it was to defeat the nulls."

"Just ask yourself why you are afraid of being wrong about the denizens not being people."

It took a moment for Simon to do so. "If I'm wrong about denizens not being people, then that means …" Despair could be read on his face as he stared blankly.

"You do not like the implication of you being wrong about them," One-One said in Sad-One's voice.

Grace said, "Simon! Your number! It went all the way to your neck!"

Simon put his right hand over his neck and saw his chest covered in numbers. "Gah! Why? I didn't kill anyone right now! I was here the whole time! What's going on? Why did my number shoot up so fast?"

In Glad-One's voice, One-One said, "You are wrong about numbers. Numbers are not power. Numbers are not your worth. Numbers are not how much of a jerk you are." He switched to Sad-One's voice. "You'd have numbers all the way to your insides if it were that last case."

He raised his sleeve and looked at his right arm's numbers. "Then what _are_ they?"

One-One switched back to Glad-One's voice. "Numbers are problems. There are not your victims' problems, and they are not your friends' problems. They are yours and yours alone. The conflict in your mind." He switched to the Sad-One voice. "You are your own worst enemy. You must defeat your stubborn self and lower the amount of mental conflicts to zero."

Simon held his head with his hands. "How do I do that? Where do I start? I'm in so deep I don't even know if I'll ever get out!" He pulled his hair.

"You can start by talking things out with your friends," Glad-One's voice said. Sad-One's voice added, "Which definitely sounds better than crying yourself to sleep every night."

Simon took in a deep breath. "Okay. Okay." He turned toward Grace. "Um, yeah. Grace." He scratched his head. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've given you lately. I don't know how you've managed to put up with my crap. Thank you for all those times you've saved me." He looked at the many digits of his right arm. "Now that I got that off my chest, we need to talk about the way you've betrayed me."

"Simon, you've betrayed me too," Grace said. "You went to see The Cat and used the things she gave you to extract my memories without my permission. Don't say you're perfect, because you're not!"

He pointed at her. "Well, you betrayed me first!"

Grace squinted at him. "Remember how you wheeled Tuba by yourself, even though I repeatedly told you not to do it?"

His mouth remained opened for a second. "I … I got nothing. You're right." He gained a new row of numbers on his neck. "You win. I messed up first." The row disappeared.

"I'm sorry I didn't know better when I put you on this path, but you have to understand: I'm the one who started the Apex belief, I will be the one to end it. I know you're scared of change, but if we work together on it, maybe it will not be so bad."

Simon lowered his head in such a way that his bangs shaded his eyes. "Grace, I used to love you." He clenched his fists. "But after learning that you've manipulated me into living a lie for so long, I'm not so sure anymore."

"Simon ..." Grace said as she reached out to him with her right hand.

He pushed her hand away. "Tuba would still be alive right now if I knew better. But you never allowed me to think for myself! So it's no wonder the moment I tried to do so, I still thought of what used to make _you_ happy. Even if it hurt me to do it." Two new rows of numbers appeared on his neck.

Grace couldn't find her words.

Simon went to face Hazel. At first he knelt to be at eye level, but then he put his hands on the floor and bowed his head. "Hazel … I know I can never be forgiven for what I did to Tuba. I'm sorry, and I can say I'm sorry until the cows come home. It won't change the past. It won't bring Tuba back."

Hazel had a grave expression on her face as she stared down at Tuba's murderer.

He continued. "I was scared of becoming attached to another denizen. Grace repeatedly used the memory of my experience with The Cat to make me distance myself from denizens. When I realized Tuba and I … were starting to become friends, I … I felt the need to prove to myself that I wasn't getting attached. I lied to myself that I was doing this to spare you and me the heartbreak, thinking that Tuba would betray us eventually. Now that I know what you are, and that you truly cared about her, and even about Grace, I have to admit this: I'm a fool who backstabbed all of his friends for something that turned out to be just a confused kid's misunderstanding of the train's rules!"

"I understand," Hazel said. "I wish things didn't happen the way they did. We'll just have to deal with how everything turned out."

Simon lifted his head, revealing the tears he had on his face. "Hazel, thank you for standing up to me when we were in the aisles car. I really needed someone to call me out, to show me that we all make mistakes, and that I am not exempt from that rule." The two new rows of numbers disappeared off his neck.

"Don't mention it," she said, turning back into her human form.

He got up and wiped his tears, then went to face Amelia. "Amelia, I ..." He couldn't help but scowl at her. "I'm still mad at you for insulting me. And for giving Grace the inspiration to start the Apex."

Amelia gave him a mean stare.

His face gained a smile. "You almost made me reconsider my beliefs at one point, but then you just had to be all smug about it. At least you've cleared things up for Grace." He shifted his eyes to the side. "Still, I'm sorry about the way I've acted back there. I thought you were trying to manipulate me the way Grace did when … Well, you saw the tape." The last row of digits from his neck disappeared.

"Glad you came to your senses now," Amelia said. "Because otherwise I would have to listen to Grace cry about me disintegrating you."

He gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I've seen what that belt of yours can do. Man, those jerks deserved it!"

"Those jerks could have been you and Grace. Who knows what got them to that point. I took no pleasure in disposing of them, and their deaths will haunt me for quite some time. But for the sake of everyone else, they had to go."

One-One butted in and said, in his cheery voice, "Oh, yes. Speaking of 'could have been', I have something to show you all. If you'll look at that big monitor over there ..." He pointed at one of the monitors at the nearby desk.

The monitor showed Simon trapping Grace in her own memory tape.

Simon from the current universe said, "Uh, I admit it did cross my mind at some point to trap Grace in her tape so I could interrogate her."

Grace crossed her arms and glared at him.

Simon shrank away from her and took two steps to the left. He continued to watch what was on the monitor. "Wait, is he going to …? Did he just leave Grace to die watching her own memory tape?!"

"She would have died if he hadn't made a mistake," One-One said in Sad-One's voice.

"Oh," Simon said. "Those little robots … They're doing something to her. They woke her up!" He grinned.

The next clip shocked him. It was of a guy very similar to buff Simon, except his muscles were similar to current Simon's. The guy even called Grace a void.

"Why is that jerk sitting on Grace's throne?" Simon asked.

"That guy is you," One-One said in Glad-One's voice. "Or rather a version that could be you," his Sad-One voice added.

Simon giggled. "Me? Are you kidding me?! That guy looks like an anime villain!" He crossed his arms and muttered, "Also talks like a frickin' diva, so that can't be me."

"You still share a similar past, so you could end up like him," One-One said as Glad-One.

The video got to the part that shocked both Grace and Simon.

Simon's eyes were wide open. "Did he just order the kids to wheel Grace?! Wait! Now he's trying to hit her?" He growled at the screen. "I want to punch this guy through the screen. Can I?"

"Do not punch the screen unless you want me to write your obituary," One-One said as Sad-One, glaring at him.

After watching some more, Simon shouted, "Why did she save him? He didn't deserve to … Did he just kick Grace off the train?! Dude, he just kicked her off the train! What the hell?!"

Grace was horrified by what she saw on the screen. A mad version of Simon laughing and crying after throwing his best friend to the wheel, in spite of being saved by her.

The Simon of her timeline gave a sigh of relief. "Those bird things caught her just in time!" He pointed at the screen when the mad Simon appeared. "Someone kick that guy to the wheels already! He clearly lost his marbles!"

Then the video showed the ghom attacking and feeding off the mad Simon, turning him into a fine powder.

"Aw yeah!" Simon said, fist-pumping. "Bastard got what he deserved!"

"Simon, he was a version of you!" Grace said while everyone else looked at him with concern.

Simon shouted, "I don't care! I am me, and he is dust! If I ever get to that point, just find a way to tie me up and throw me to the wheels!"

Grace ruffled his hair. "Calm down, edge lord."

Simon blushed and scowled while rearranging his hair.

One-One switched to his happy tone. "There is one more thing I want to show you. I was shocked to learn that this was possible, but see for yourself on the screen."

The next video showed how a silver humanoid denizen reflected the number of the passenger named Jesse into her palm, and they were both allowed to leave through the same door.

"So Jesse didn't get disintegrated," Simon said. "And that denizen …"

"Yes," One-One said. "She figured out how to get a number on herself. So, by the train's rules, she was allowed to leave with Jesse."

"I'll have to admit, M.T. was a smart one. I wish I could apologize to her for the way I've treated her and Jesse. I hope they're happy out there."

"You could go out there and find them, once you get your number down to zero," One-One said. "It may seem high, but once you begin to work on your problems, you'll be burning those digits fast."

"But other than to apologize," Simon said, "I have no reason to return to that world."

"We can go together," Grace said. "Then we'll figure things out, catch up on what we've missed ..."

"If I could go there, I'd want to go to school," Hazel said.

One-One said, "I'm sure there's a way to get you all off this train. But until that time comes, you two will have to pay your dues." He pointed at Grace and Simon. "You are now part of my train staff, and will be responsible with helping Amelia with her job. You will also have to fix all of the cars you've destroyed. Good luck dealing with the denizens you've wronged though."

Simon asked, "Could we stop by the mall car, please? Grace and I have something important to do."

"Sure," One-One said. "Just get in that new car the locomotive just released. I'll ask Alan Dracula to deliver the tools you'll need for the job. Oh, and Simon, I don't trust you enough to give you a sound shield, so all you're getting is the watch and the tablet."

"Fine by me. Just one question: did you send Alan Dracula to turn me into a ghom?"

One-One nodded. "Yes. I wanted to teach you to be humble. I also cured your fear of ghoms. So that's two birds with one stone."

Simon chuckled. "You know, before I went through this journey, I kept thinking of all the bad things I'd do to whomever turned me into a ghom. But now … I just want to say: thank you. We'll keep in touch, soccer ball."

"Sure thing. Have a safe trip!" One-One said.

Simon, Grace, Hazel, and Amelia went into the freshly-made car and closed the door. The car was sent rolling toward its destination: the mall car.

* * *

The Apex base was under alert. Only a few kids roamed the hall while a teenager with pink hair and ear guards stood by the door, holding a hockey stick. He heard the cars switch outside and wondered what cool new stuff was inside it. He was sure the Apex would raid it as soon as Grace and Simon returned. Though those two had been gone for so long that he started to wonder if they would ever return.

Someone was opening the door. This startled the guard, who prepared to use the hockey stick if it was the dreaded ghom again or some angry null looking for revenge.

"Hey! We're back!" It was Simon. He put his hands forward. "Don't swing! I'm not a ghom anymore!"

The guard lowered the hockey stick and stared at him with half-closed eyes. "What?"

"I'll explain later," Simon said while Grace, Amelia, and Hazel entered after him. "Go tell everyone to gather in the hall."

The guard saluted. "Right away, Simon!" Then he hurried to announce the other kids.

* * *

Once everyone was present, Simon looked at Grace and said, "Well, I have the highest number. Which means _I_ get to be the leader for once." He had a big grin on his face.

Grace seemed a bit annoyed about his bragging.

"And my first order as leader is …" he said as he looked at the children. They were all ears. "Wheel Grace! Wheel the void!" He pointed at her.

Grace stared in shock while the children surrounded her.

Amelia said, "I knew he could not be trusted!"

"What the hell, Simon?!" Hazel shouted.

Simon burst into laughter. "Stop, stop! Don't wheel her! I was just joking!"

The kids released Grace.

He shook his head. "Man, you've turned them into little monsters, Grace. They're blindly following anyone with the highest number."

"You'll regret this later, you dork!" Grace said, her eyes burning into him as she smacked her left palm with her right fist repeatedly.

Simon laughed nervously. "Let's get to the serious part. Apex! Listen up! Everything you've been taught about numbers is wrong. They don't signify power. A higher number doesn't make you a better person. Neither does having one or not having one. Numbers are simply the problems you're dealing with. That's all they are. The lower the number, the more at peace you are with yourself. I've seen some of you – shout out to Lucy – who felt bad about hurting or killing denizens. You felt it was the wrong thing to do, but you did it because you were told it was right. That was why your numbers were increasing so fast. With this newfound knowledge, I am asking you to forget the rule of 'highest number rules the Apex', and I pass leadership back to Grace. Thank you for your attention." He bowed and let Grace come forward to speak.

Grace showed her right arm. It only had three rows of numbers past her palm. "During the time we've been away, we've learned that we were wrong not just about numbers, but about denizens, and even about the Conductor. The numbers are supposed to go down, and when they reach zero, you can go back to your homes. Denizens are people too, even if they don't have numbers. They have feelings just like us, and they have their flaws, just like us. Even The Cat didn't mean to abandon Simon. She was just scared and didn't notice that Simon was no longer behind her. We're all scared of some things, including being wrong. But we must admit when we're wrong, because we can't live a lie forever. So, I admit I was wrong about the Conductor. Everyone, meet Amelia." Her number decreased by two rows.

"Hello," Amelia said begrudgingly.

"She was the one I've met in the pumpkin car. Her robot wasn't even as big or as scary as I've described it. It was just a bit taller than me, with one of those passenger pods for a head. Back then she used a voice changer to sound like a robot, so I thought she was a man. Show them the voice, please, Amelia."

Amelia brought out her voice changer and made her voice become robotic. "Meh, here you go."

The kids were all staring in awe. Lucy asked, "So, is she the true Conductor?"

After putting her voice changer back in her bag, she said, "No. That would be One, the little spherical robot. I removed him from the locomotive and took over the train. I did horrible things in an attempt to recreate a person dear to me, and to bring back the surroundings of my old life. The last thing I wanted was for a bunch of foolish kids to think of me as some god. Now I am trying to make it up to One and any people who had to suffer because of my stubbornness. Hopefully I'll reach zero so I can get off the train some day."

Grace resumed her speech. "And now I'd like you all to meet Hazel."

"Hi!" Hazel said, waving at the kids.

"Hazel made me reconsider my stance on denizens. I have seen her be nice and fun to be around, but after Simon wheeled her gorilla denizen friend Tuba, I've seen how she can experience sadness just like we humans do. That was when I've realized I was wrong about denizens, and looking back at all the lives we took, I now understand we've caused much suffering for these people."

"Hazel looks like a little girl," one of the Apex boys said. "How did you find out she was a denizen?"

Grace said, "Show him, Hazel."

Hazel turned into her turtle form.

The kids all said, "Wow!"

"Hazel is Amelia's accidental creation," Grace said. "But since she was made with the train's resources, I guess she counts as a denizen. She has a number, but it doesn't glow. Yet that doesn't make her any less than any of us. And now, with our newfound knowledge about denizens, let's stop being the Apex and figure out who each of us is."

"Stop being the Apex?!" Simon asked. "So, are we disbanding?"

"Everyone is free to choose their path," Grace said as she lost another row of digits. "We can all gather here every now and then, maybe team up and try to help out or fix what we've destroyed, but I will no longer be the leader. I will only offer advice when I'll be around. But I'll probably be away most of the time, since Simon and I owe Amelia for helping us during our long journey."

Simon sighed. "She's going to work us until we drop dead, isn't she?"

"Hey, you two owe me your lives and then some for saving your butts," Amelia said. "And you're starting from right now."

"Well, not like I have anything better to do now that the Apex is no more," he said with a bored look on his face. Then he remembered something. "But first, I have to release that stage light denizen from my room."

* * *

For many months, Amelia had the help of not just Grace and Simon, but of Hazel too. Although it wasn't always that all three of them would be sent as the repair crew to assist her.

* * *

Sometimes it was just Grace and Hazel, equipped with their own sound shields, being sent to search for missing orbs through cars and return them to their rightful places. Or to find malfunctioning orbs and replace them. At times they were sent to stop denizens from causing turf wars. Grace often had to explain herself to the denizens who recognized her as either the killer of some relative or friend of theirs, or as the person who destroyed their property or just ruined their day.

* * *

Other times Hazel and Simon were sent on more difficult missions. Simon was still not given his own sound shield, so he had to be careful when dealing with ghoms that were supposed to be shot with the orb gun so they could be turned back into denizens. He often imagined himself in a fictional war story to make the mission even more fun for himself and Hazel. Though it was difficult to keep his focus when he was around denizens who knew of his past crimes. He feared the denizens more than the ghoms, but he no longer hated them. They were all people he had wronged in some way or another, and this was the price he had to pay.

* * *

When it was just Grace and Simon being sent on a mission, it often involved going to the wasteland to retrieve some fallen denizen or passenger. They had plenty of close encounters with ghoms, but made it out unscathed every time.

* * *

When it was Grace, Hazel, and Simon, Amelia needed them to both deal with ghoms and fix cars. At the end of the day all four of them often went to Samantha's cabin to hang out with her and Frank while eating pancakes. Samantha had agreed to "sign a peace treaty", as Simon would call it, with Amelia and Grace.

* * *

During their free time, Hazel and Amelia bonded over cooking pancakes and learning to bake other goodies in a cooking car. Amelia could finally smile about something she enjoyed. She had come to think of Hazel as her own daughter, and Hazel considered Amelia her mother.

* * *

When spending time at the mall car, Hazel would stick around with Simon and discuss what he should write in his novel.

"So she will be called Knight Hazel Hughes, and she should have strong, golden armor, and a sound scepter, and would be assisted by Knight Tuba the mighty blue gorilla," Hazel said.

Simon sighed after remembering Tuba. "Got it." He wrote everything down on a sheet of paper on his desk.

* * *

Everything seemed to be going fine until the day Grace's number reached zero.

Grace sat on her throne and stared at the zero between the brackets in her palm. She should be happy, but she wasn't.

Simon entered the room and said, "Hi, Grace!"

She turned around. "Oh, Simon, welcome back. How was your day?"

He sat on a red armchair. "It was … I can't say good, can't say okay. Crap would best describe it." He pointed to his left leg. It had a bite mark from some creature with a long snout.

"What happened to your leg?"

"Hazel and I took a stroll through Corginia. Bad idea. Turns out I have a _humongous_ bounty on my head there."

"You should bandage it before it gets infected," Grace said.

"Yeah, I'll do that," he said. "Just let me rest for a few minutes first."

Then she brought up the question he hoped he'd not hear again soon. "How's your number doing?"

He stared down, avoiding eye contact. His number was still one row above his neck. "This feels hopeless. I keep trying to fix things, to apologize, to help, and yet I am constantly reminded of who I was. It's always one step forward, two steps back." He clenched his right fist. "Even my own reflection called me out and said he'd rather reflect Hazel instead. I don't blame him."

"I know it sucks, but eventually people will not be so hostile. You just have to try and earn their trust."

"You're better at talking than I am. I'm too scared. I don't know how to pick my words, and I keep angering the denizens."

"You'll get the hang of it some day, Simon. Don't give up."

"Grace, just take the exit already."

Grace frowned.

"You've been waiting for me for over a month now," Simon said, looking into her sad eyes. "And Amelia said it would be best for Hazel to go to school this year. Since Amelia can't leave the train yet and still has quite some digits to lose, you're the only one who can go with Hazel."

"But we still haven't figured out how to give Hazel an active number," Grace said. "One-One thinks the one she has is just a birthmark."

Simon got up from the chair. "Leave it up to me. I've got an idea, and I'm hoping it might work."

* * *

One-One had been called to the mall car, and he arrived using the Steward's body as a means of transportation. Amelia couldn't come because she was busy elsewhere on the train. Simon and Hazel – who was in her human form – were in the hall, discussing with the robot.

"So you're saying Hazel is ready to leave the train?" One-One said in Glad-One's voice. "But she still doesn't have a number."

"Wait here," Simon said. He turned around and pointed at the pink-haired teenage guard. "You! Come with me, please!"

The guard came to him. "Sure, what's up?"

They went into Simon's room. There, Simon grabbed a large pair of scissors and said, "I need your help with something, since I'm not very good at using my left hand with scissors. I know this is going to sound gruesome, but it has to be done."

* * *

A few minutes later, Simon returned to the hall, followed by the guard who looked like he had seen a ghost. The guard returned to the spot by the exit and said nothing.

Hazel noticed the bandages on Simon's right palm and lower arm in addition to the one he already had on his leg. "What happened to your arm? Did a corgi get into your room?"

Simon held something in his left fist. "Hazel, show me your number."

She showed him her right palm.

He smiled at her and placed pieces of his own skin over her palm. Two brackets and a zero glowed off them together.

"Simon, are you downright bonkers?!" Hazel yelled.

"It's the least I can do for you," he said. "Hey! One-One! Look! She has a number now!"

One-One went closer to look at Hazel's palm. He used his Glad-One voice. "I see what you're trying to do. I'm not stupid, you know." Then he switched to Sad-One's voice. "Unless I have to be."

"Aw, come on!" Simon said. "You've allowed M.T. to leave, even though the number wasn't actually _on_ her palm!"

Still in Sad-One's voice, One-One said, "I can give Hazel an exit, but are you aware of the consequences this will have on you?"

Simon grabbed One-One and put him under his right arm. "Hey, soccer ball, can I have a word with you in private?"

"Sure."

He carried One-One to his room and placed him on his desk. Then he showed One-One how his number was flickering. "I broke it, didn't I?"

"You sure glitched it," One-One said as Glad-One. "Unless you put those digits back, it'll be unable to show your progress. You do realize this means you're never getting off this train, right?" He switched to Sad-One's voice. "Unless you count going to the wasteland and dying alone as getting off the train."

"Hazel needs to go to school," Simon said. "She can go with Grace until Amelia gets off the train too. I'm just holding them back since I never seem to progress. I have too much baggage. This is for the best."

"Well, if you're really serious about this, who am I to argue?" One-One said in Glad-One's voice.

"Just don't tell anyone about what will happen to me, okay? I don't want Grace or Hazel to know. They'll never want to leave if they find out what price I'm willing to pay."

"Sure, it's your funeral," One-One said as Sad-One.

* * *

Once Simon and One-One returned to the hall, they saw Hazel and Grace there.

"Simon, are you sure about this?" Grace asked.

Simon put his left hand on her right shoulder and said, "Don't worry. My skin will grow back, and the numbers will reappear on it. Though it'll take quite some time. Just take Hazel and go out there. It's safer than on the train. You can start anew, without people seeking to get revenge on you all the time."

"We'll be waiting for you there," she said, "no matter how long it will take for you to join us."

"Grace, it might be quite a long wait. You shouldn't let me keep you from living your life. Maybe you might find someone more deserving of your love too." It killed him inside to say that. His number flickered, and it would have added two new rows of digits on his neck, but instead just created two lines that disappeared. Then all of his digits turned into E letters.

"Simon, I'm not giving up on you. I will wait for you. I even asked One-One to give us a way to communicate with you, him, and Amelia."

One-One got into the Steward's head and cheerfully gave Grace a red device that looked like a miniature laptop. "Here it is! The interdimensional e-mail machine!" He also gave Simon one.

"You're not making this any easier, soccer ball," Simon muttered while scowling at the robot and putting the device on the floor near a wall.

"It is good to stay in touch with your loved ones," One-One said.

Simon looked at Grace and said, "Still, we could use some time apart." His number flashed again, trying to add three rows to its current length, but still reverted and remained written with many E letters.

"Your number is acting very strange," Grace said.

"It'll fix itself. It's just a temporary glitch until my skin regrows. Nothing to worry about."

His number would have added four rows, but reverted again.

"Okay, if you say so."

Simon remembered something. "Could you give me the tape player, please? It might help me face my demons."

"I don't know," Grace said. "What if you try to trap people in their own tapes?"

"Come on, Grace!" Simon said. "I've got enough enemies already. I keep expecting them to ambush me everywhere I go. Please. I just need it for myself."

She gave in and passed the device to him.

He took it and put it in his fanny pack. "Thank you."

She hugged him tightly.

Simon refused to return the hug. "Just go already," he said coldly before separating himself from her.

Grace had tears in her eyes, but she smiled at him, even if he didn't return that either.

He knelt to be at eye level with Hazel. "Take care of yourself, girl." He ruffled her hair. "And don't let _anyone_ push you around! I'm probably the biggest jerk you'll ever meet, and you stood up to me. I'm sure you can stand up to whatever lesser jerks are out there."

"I can take them on," she said. "I'll e-mail you when we get there."

"I'll be checking my mail every day," Simon said, standing again. "Good luck to you both."

"Ready?" One-One asked.

Grace and Hazel nodded.

One-One raised his right hand, and two doors formed in the room. They united and became one, then opened to allow Grace and Hazel to leave.

"Goodbye, Simon," Grace said.

"Bye, Simon," Hazel said.

They went through the door together as Simon became completely dead inside watching them disappear. He wiped off a tear with his right sleeve while trying to fake a smile.

"Are you going to tell them someday?" One-One asked him as Glad-One.

"I don't think I can," Simon said. "But I don't want to completely cut ties with them either."

One-One switched to Sad-One's voice. "You're going to run out of excuses eventually. What then?"

"That's for me to figure out, soccer ball."

"Whatever you say," One-One said as Glad-One. "See you around, Simon."

Simon smiled halfheartedly at the robot. "See you around."

* * *

**Two months later …**

Hazel just finished writing an e-mail on the interdimensional e-mailing machine and sent it. Then she turned the device off. The black screen reflected back an image of herself.

On that desk, next to the device, there was a red, handmade book called The Knights of Esmoroth by Simon Laurent & Hazel Hughes.

Hazel got up from her desk and went to hug Grace, who sat on the edge of a bed.

"Good night, Hazel," Grace said after returning the hug. She got up and allowed Hazel to prepare for bed. As she walked toward the door, her gaze fell on a photo that was on the nightstand.

In it there was Amelia at the top center, with no numbers showing on her chest anymore. To the right there was Grace. Bottom center there was Hazel. And to the left there was Simon, his numbers still covering him all the way to his neck. Everyone was smiling.

Grace wiped off a tear and sighed before leaving Hazel's room.

* * *

One-One noticed an alert on one of the screens in the locomotive. He popped out of the control board's slot and jumped into the Steward's head so he could reach the screen. It was an e-mail from Hazel. He accessed it, and the e-mail's content expanded over the screen.

* * *

Sender: **Hazel Hughes**  
Subject: **Dear One-One**

**It's been quite a while since we've last messaged each other. How are you?**

**Did you hear what happened to Simon? He and I used to talk over e-mail every day, but for the past week he stopped e-mailing. Today I received an e-mail from Lucy instead. She said the kids broke into his room and discovered Simon had been trapped in his tape for the whole week, watching our departure over and over. They were too late to save him.  
**

* * *

"Darn," One-One said as Sad-One. "I missed the chance to write his obituary." He continued to read the rest of the e-mail.

* * *

**I hope he gets to meet up with Tuba again where he is now. Maybe they can put the past behind them and get another chance at becoming friends.**

**I write e-mails to my mom every day too, and I know she's strong and can fight off many hazards on the train, but please make sure she's safe. I heard her number is now down to 49, so I hope she will be joining us out here soon.**

**Grace found herself a job as a dance instructor, and I will be going to school in a week from now. I can't wait to make new kid friends and show off my turtle transformation.**

**Take care of yourself and the train, One-One.**

**Love, Hazel.**

* * *

"Well, can't save everyone," One-One said as Glad-One. "At least the great massacre has been prevented, and two people got off the train successfully. Maybe in another universe another One-One sees this and does a better job at managing the train and its passengers."

* * *

In another universe, a color-flipped One-One indeed was watching that universe's One-One and his progress on a monitor in his locomotive. He said, in Glad-One's voice, "I better hurry. My universe's Simon and Grace are already at each other's throats."

On another monitor, Grace and Simon were in the jungle car, fighting each other with sticks while Hazel and Tuba watched them confused.

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
